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THE 



AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 

% J) factual treatise 



BREEDING, REARING, AND GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF 
, VARIOUS SPECIES OF 

DOMESTIC POULTEY. 



ILLUSTRATED WITH PORTRAITS OF FOWLS, MOSTLY TAKEN FROM LIFE; 

POULTRY-HOUSES, COOPS, NESTS, FEEDING-HOPPERS, 

&c, &c, &c. 



A NEW EDITION, ENLARGED AND IMPROVED. 



BY C. N. BEMENT. 

WITH 120 ILLUSTRATIONS, 

3k ttf 



NEW YORK: 
HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, 

FRANKLIN S Q U A R E. 

1 8 7 8. 



•V 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand eight hundred and 

fifty-six, by 

HARPER & BROTHERS, 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District of New York. 



3 j traoefer fro» 
i'at. Office btt>. 



P ft E F A C E. 



In laying before the public this new, enlarged, and much improved edi- 
tion of the " American Poulterer's Companion," the author deems it necessary 
and not out of place to offer a few remarks regarding the undertaking. The 
work was first commenced in consequence of the urgent solicitation of nu- 
merous friends, who professed to think that I was well qualified for the task, 
and an authority upon which reliance could be placed, from the fact that 
the main portion of my lifetime had been devoted to the subject of poultry ; 
for from my earliest youth I have taken great delight in studying, compar- 
ing, and admiring our numerous varieties of domestic fowls, which tend so 
much to enliven and adorn our farm-yards. 

Impressed for a long time with the belief that poultry, under proper man- 
agement, might be made as profitable, according to the capital invested, as 
any other branch of industry properly connected to farming ; and with the 
view of satisfying myself on that point, I kept an accurate account of ex- 
penses and income, and found, on footing up the account, my previous opin- 
ion confirmed. From this register of results I have been enabled to draw 
such observations as I hope may be found correct and useful to such as seek 
information on the subject. 

It is a common saying, that if we would sit down and write. that which 
we have practically learned upon almost any subject, the information imparted 
could scarcely fail of being useful. Just so far my ambition extends. Nor 
is the world entirely without need of advice on this subject, notwithstanding 
its antiquity and the multitude of counselors. Of this fact I have had am- 



viii PREFACE. 

pie proof in my numerous visits to various parts of this country, where I 
have found, in too many instances, that a sufficiency of poultry could not be 
raised for the use of the family, notwithstanding large numbers were kept, 
in consequence of the want of care and attention in supplying them with 
proper food and shelter. And many have houses and yards for their poultry, 
who, in the use of them, are only guided by random suggestions or unwise 
examples of their neighbors. They follow in the old beaten track, and, per- 
haps, even indulge a prejudice against all written instructions which lead 
them to change their course. To such I would recommend this work, as 
unfolding no gigantic projects, indulging in no useless theories, tempting to 
no rash experiments, but exhibiting plainly, practically, and profitably, the 
best mode for the management of poultry. With this view I undertook the 
pleasing and delightful task. Although my labors are humble, I hope they 
will not be the less useful. I have not the vanity to suppose that I have 
excelled in every thing, but I fondly hope that the path may be render- 
ed more distinct and smooth for future progress. 

It is now more than eleven years since the " American Poulterer's 
Companion" was first published. It was the pioneer of American works 
devoted to poultry, and has passed through several editions. When I com- 
menced it, very little attention had been paid to the rearing of poultry. The 
profits arising from fowls were generally considered too insignificant to enter 
into the calculations of the farmer ; and, consequently, the improvement of 
poultry was pretty much neglected in this country. In fact, many farmers 
considered them rather a nuisance, and " cost more than they come to." To 
be sure, there were a few connoisseurs who had imported some Game and 
Dorking fowls ; but beyond that I have no reliable information. More at- 
tention had probably been paid to the Game than any other breed. Occa- 
sionally some Malay fowls were brought in our merchant ships, and found 
their way into the country, which very much improved the size of the com- 
mon farm-yard fowl. 

The object of rearing poultry and eggs for market may appear to some but 
a trifling concern ; but a glance at the poultry statistics in the closing chap- 



PREFACE. ix 

ter of this volume will probably surprise and astonish many who had paid 
little or no attention to the amount consumed, or been in the habit of reflect- 
ing on the various items that go to swell our agricultural prosperity. 

In my endeavors to keep pace with the improvements of the age, I have 
been actuated by the most liberal views in obtaining the best and most 
reliable information that could be obtained on the subject, suited to the prac- 
tical breeder as well as to the amateur or novice. 

Among the novelties of the age is the excitement that has been manifested 
within a few years, in this country and Europe, on the subject of improved 
breeds of poultry. " It has had the effect of calling attention to the subject," 
say the editors of the American Agriculturist, " not only in the different 
breeds of fowls, but to the care and general management of them, and much 
good will arise from it. It has awakened public attention to the true value 
of poultry as an article of domestic stock, or creatures of sufficient merit and 
beauty in themselves to render them worth attention beyond the common 
fowls of the barn-yard. The extravagances, however, which have grown out 
of it, have afforded the lovers of fun not a few occasions for jest and merri- 
ment ; for not a few of our notable savans in business and professional fame 
became as much absorbed with this branch of research as they would have 
been previously in matters out of which fortunes were to be made. Posi- 
tively it was ungenerous to laugh at them for this new type of human char- 
acter. Thousands, as notable as they are, have evinced, in relation to other 
matters, similar gushing impulses. Rarely does a year roll round and pass 
away without leaving on its tombstone some corresponding inscription of a 
new-fledged zeal that marked its authors for unenviable notoriety." 

Every one who directs his thoughts to the subject, will at once acknowl- 
edge that poultry are just as capable of improvement as any other farm- 
stock, by breeding from selected specimens, and the beneficial results arising 
from this attention to superior parentage are already very marked. From 
my own experience these facts are very apparent, and no one conversant 
with poultry can attend our markets without seeing evidences of great im- 
provement. Many specimens show increased compactness, roundness, and 



x PREFACE. 

symmetry ; shorter leg, clean head and neck, fuller and closer feathers, etc. ; 
still much remains to be accomplished. For information how this further 
improvement is to be achieved — for authority deciding what are the defects 
to be avoided, and the excellences to be arrived at — for sound practical di- 
rections in management — for accurate particulars of the good and bad char- 
acteristics of varieties, and for information on other points, all naturally turn 
to works published relative to poultry. Now we all know that no one has 
sought such aid without, in a measure, being disappointed. To remedy this 
defect, as near as possible, is the object of this work. 

In preparing this volume, no expense has been spared in the embellish- 
ments, as the best artists have been employed. Some of the spirited and 
lifelike portraits on wood were drawn by Mr. K. Van Zandt, of Albany, from 
living specimens in possession of the author. I hope, therefore, to merit the 
approbation of the public, and trust the work, in this new form and dress, 
will be favorably received, and found to combine the utmost economy and 
utility, united at the same time with elegance and the facility of obtaining 
the desired end. In no other work, I believe, can be found so many portraits 
of fowls, and other embellishments. In short, my object and aim in this 
volume has been to furnish a full, authentic, and reliable work, adapted to 
meet the demand growing out of the interest recently manifested on the 
subject. And in the hope that it will serve to diffuse more widely reliable 
information in respect to the very important subject on which it treats, 
prove a welcome and valuable acquisition to the libraries of practical men, 
be found amusing and instructive to the young, and successful with the old 
and judicious, I make my bow, and intrust it to the public. 

C. N. Bement. 



CONTENTS, 



CHAPTER I. 

GENERAL VIEWS : DOMESTIC POULTRY. 



Choice of the Cock 83 

Choice of the Hen 34 

Selecting and Breeding 31 

Management 35 



Laying 30 

Fecundity 37 

Profits 38 

Food 3!) 



CHAPTER II. 

POULTRY-HOUSES. 



Victoria's Poultry-house 47 

Lord Penryn's Poultry-house 47 

Mowbray's Poultry-house 48 

Scotch Poultry-house 49 

Octagon Poultry-house 50 

Our own Poultry-house 51 

Ornamental Rustic Poultry-house 53 

Cottager's Poultry-house 54 

Fancy Poultry-house 55 



Browne's Poultry-house 57 

New York Poultry-house 59 

Rustic Poultry-house 60 

Poor Man's Poultry-house GO 

Rhode Island Poultry-house (i'J 

Virginia Poultry-house < ;: > 

Van Nuxen's Poultry-house (!4 

Cheap Poultry-house 64 

Duck House 65 



CHAPTER III. 

ACCESSORIES TO THE POULTRY-HOUSE. 



Plans for Nests CG 

Wicker-work Nests 68 

Cheap Nests G8 

Straw Nests G8 

Curious Nest 69 

Secret Nests 69 

Barrel Coop 69 

Marque Coops G!) 

English Coop 70 

Close Coop 71 

Pen Coops 72 



Nest Eggs 72 

Feeding Hoppers 7-'> 

Double Feeding Hopper 74 

Scotch Feeding Fountain 74 

Self-Feeding Hopper 71 

Stool Feeding Hopper 7"> 

Perfect Feeding Hopper 7G 

Feeding Trough 77 

Water Fountains 77 

Barrel Fountain 7 7 

Bottle Fountain 77 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER IV. 

WILD FOWL. 



Sonnerat's Jungle Fowl ..... 82 

Bankiva Jungle Fowl 85 

Ceylon Jungle Fowl 87 



Fork-tail Fowl 88 

Fire-hacked Jungle Fowl 89 

Australian Jungle Fowl 91 



CHAPTER V. 

ASIATIC FOWLS. 

Malay Fowl 9S [ Shanghai Fowl... 104 

Kulm Fowl 98 Brahma Fowls 1 1 1 

Cochin Fowl 101 J Emeu Shanghai Fowl ] 14 



CHAPTER VI. 

FARM-YARD FOWLS. 



Game Fowl 116 

Dominique Fowl 121 

Dorking Fowl 123 

Bucks County Fowl 129 

Ostrich Fowl 130 

Bolton Gray Fowl 131 

Frizzled Fowls 133 

Silky Fowl 134 

Rumpless Fowl 136 

Spanish Fowl 138 

Hamburg Fowls 141 

Silver-penciled Hamburg 142 



Golden-spangled Hamburg 143 

Golden-penciled Hamburg 144 

Silver-spangled Hamburg 144 

Specimen Feather 145 

Black Hamburg Fowl 145 

Bantam Fowl 146 

Black Bantam 148 

Java Bantam 150 

Nankin Bantam 151 

Sebright Bantam 151 

Creeper Fowl 154 

Paduan Fowl 155 



CHAPTER VII. 

CRESTED FOWLS. 



Black Poland Fowl 159 

Golden-crested Fowl 162 

Silver-crested Fowl 1 64 

Russian Fowl 165 

Crisp-feathered Fowl 166 



Golden-spangled Poland Fowl 167 

White Poland Fowl 167 

Silver-spangled Crested Fowl 1 68 

Ptarmigan Fowl 169 

Serai Taook, or Sultan's Fowl 172 



CHAPTER VIII. 

INCUBATION. 



Artificial Hatching 178 

Reaumur's Hatching Apparatus 179 

Bonnemain's Incubator 180 

The Potolokian 184 



Mr. Cantelo's Hydro-incubator 185 

American Egg-hatching Machine 186 

Minasi's Incubator 186 

Scientific Hatching Machine 187 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER IX. 

FATTENING POULTRY. 
Wingate's Method 189 | Feeding-houses 189 

CHAPTER X. 

KILLING AND PREPARING FOR MARKET. 
Age of Poultry 192 1 Preserving Poultry 192 



CHAPTER XL 

DISEASES OF POULTRY. 



Apoplexy 193 

Vertigo.". 194 

Paralysis 194 

Cartarrh 195 

Gapes 195 

Pip 19G 

Roup 19G 

Consumption 198 

Crop-bound 198 



Inflammation 199 

Diarrhea 199 

Costiveness 200 

Loss of'Feathers 200 

Eating their Feathers .' 200 

White Comb 201 

Vermin 201 

Rheumatism 202 

Eating their Eras 202 



CHAPTER XII. 

TURKEYS. 

American Wild Turkey 203 f Honduras Turkey 219 

Domestic Turkej 208 | Brush Turkey 220 

CHAPTER XIII. 

PEAFOWL. 
Description of the Pea-fowl 223 I Characteristics 224 

CHAPTER XIV. 

GUINEA-FOWLS. 
Common Guinea-fowl 220 I Crested Guinea-fowl 228 

CHAPTER XV. 

AQUATIC FOWLS.— THE SWAN. 

Mute Swan 230 I Cvgnets 233 

White Swan 231 Black Swan 234 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

AQUATIC FOWLS.— THE GOOSE. 



American Wild Goose 236 

Domestic Goose 240 

Toulouse Goose 247 

Embden Goose 248 

African Goose 252 

Chinese Goose 254 

White Chinese Goose 255 



Barnacle Goose 257 

Brant Goose 259 

Egyptian Goose 260 

Goose-houses, Nests, etc 261 

Diseases of Geese 262 

Plucking Geese 263 

Fattening Geese 264 



CHAPTER XVII. 

AQUATIC FOWLS.— THE DUCK. 



The Mallard Duck 265 

Black East Indian, or Buenos Ayrean Duck 266 

Musk or Brazilian Duck 267 

Wood Duck 270 

Mandarin Duck 271 

Rouen Duck 272 



Aylesbury Duck 274 

Crested Duck 276 

Hook-billed Duck 277 

Penguin Duck 277 

Canvas-back Duck 277 

Red-head Duck 279 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

WILD BIRDS SUSCEPTIBLE OF DOMESTICATION. 



Curassow 290 

Crested Curassow 290 

Galeated Curassow 291 

Capercaillie, or Cock of the Wood 292 

Ruffed Grouse 293 



Prairie Hen 295 

Pheasant 297 

Cock of the Plains 29S 

California Partridge 299 

Great Bustard 300 



Foreign. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

POULTRY STATISTICS. 
301 1 Domestic... 



303 



LIST .OF ILLUSTRATIONS, 



PAGE 

Group of Domestic Fowls 81 

Victoria's Poultry-house 45 

Octagon Poultry-house 50 

Our own Poultry-house 51 

Ornamental Rustic Poultry-house 53 

Fancy Poultry-house 55 

Browne's Poultry-house 57 

New York Poultry-house 59 

Rustic Poultry-house 60 

Poor Man's Poultry -house 61 

Cheap Poultry-house 64 

Duck House 65 

Secret Nests 66 

"Wicker-work Nests 68 

Barrel Coop 69 

Tent Coops 70 

English Coop 70 

Close Coop 71 

Pen Coop 72 

Cheap Feeding Hopper 73 

Double Feeding Hopper 74 

Scotch Feeding Fountain 74 

Self-feeding Hopper 74 

Stool Feeding Hopper 75 

Perfect Feeding Hopper 76 

Feeding Trough 77 

Barrel Water-fountain 77 

Bottle Water-fountain 77 

Japanese Wild Fowl 78 

Sonnerat's Jungle Cock 83 

Sonnerat's Jungle Hen 84 

Bankiva Jungle Cock 86 

Specimen Feather of Ceylon Fowl 88 

Fire-backed Jungle Cock 90 

Fire-backed Jungle Hen 91 

Australian Jungle Fowl 92 

Group of Asiatic Fowls 95 

Malay Prize Cock 98 



TAGE 

Malay Cock and Hen 99 

Group of Cochins ]()2 

Yellow Buff Cochins 104 

Shanghai Fowls 105 

Lemon Cock and Hen 107 

Group of Brahma Fowls ] 09 

Emeu Shanghai Hen ] u 

Shawl-necked Game Cock 117 

Game Cock and Hen 1 18 

Dominique Cock 122 

Dominique specimen Feather 123 

Group of Dorkings 124 

White Dorking Cock 12G 

Gray Dorking Cock 128 

Bucks County Cock and Hen 129 

Ostrich Cock and Hen 130 

Bolton Gray Gock and Hen 131 

Bolton Gray specimen Feather 132 

Frizzled Fowls 133 

Silky Fowls 134 

Rumpless Fowls 136 

Spanish Cock and Hen 138 

Hamburg Fowls 142 

Hamburg specimen Feather 143 

Silver-spangled specimen Feather 145 

Bantams 146 

Black Bantams ' 19 

Java Bantams 160 

Gold and Silver-laced Bantams 151 

Sebright Bantams 162 

Creeper or Dwarf Fowls '•> I 

Crested Fowls '68 

Black Poland Fowls 160 

Black Poland Cock and Hens 161 

Golden-crested Fowl 168 

Silver-crested Fowl 164 

Russian Fowls 166 

Crisp-feathered Fowls 166 



XVI 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



TAGE 

Golden Spangled Poland 167 

Silver-spangled Crested Fowls 168 

Serai Taook Fowls 172 

Reaumur's Hatching Apparatus 179 

Bonnemain's Incubator 180 

Reaumur's Artificial Mother 182 

American Egg-hatching Machine 1 86 

Wild Turkey 204 

Domestic Turkey 209, 215 

Honduras Turkey 219 

Brush Turkey 220, 221 

Peacock 223 

Guinea Hen 226 

Crested Guinea Hen 223 

Mute Swan 230 

White Swan 232 

Black Swan 234 

American Wild Goose 236 

Domestic Goose 240 

Toulouse Geese 247 

Embden Geese 249 



PAGE 

African Goose 252 

Chinese Goose 255, 256 

Barnacle Goose 257 

Egyptian Goose 260 

Mallard Duck 265 

Musk Duck 268 

American Wood Duck 270 

Chinese Mandarin 271 

Black East Indian Ducks 272 

Rouen Ducks....? 272 

White Aylesbury Ducks 274 

Crested Duck 276 

Canvas-back and Red-head Ducks 277 

Crested Curassow 290 

GaleatedCurassow 291 

Capercaillie, or Cock of the Wood 292 

Ruffed Grouse 294 

Prairie Hen 295 

Pheasant 296 

California Partridge 299 

Great Bustard 300 



THE AMERICAN 



POULTERER'S COMPANION, 



INTRODUCTION. 



Until within the few last years, it is not ex- 
travagant to say that the improvement of poul- 
try was pretty much neglected in this country ; 
and it is only since the year 1840 that we have 
been aroused to an appreciation of their value. 
It is now, however, generally admitted that the 
rearing and keeping of poultry has become an 
important branch of rural economy, and that 
it is just as susceptible of improvement as any 
other kind of farm stock, by breeding from se- 
lected specimens. 

The beneficial results arising from this atten- 
tion to superior parentage are already marked ; 
and no one conversant with poultry can attend 
our exhibitions without seeing collected evidence 
of increased and increasing attention and im- 
provement. At the same time, every specimen 
affords testimony quite as apparent that much 
yet remains to be accomplished ; and to impart 
information how this improvement is to be 
achieved — to decide what are the defects to be 
avoided and the excellences to be arrived at — 
to give accurate particulars of the good and bad 
characteristics of the different varieties, and to 
remedy the latter are the objects of this work. 

Among the novelties of the age is the ex- 
citement that has been manifested within the 
last few years, particularly in some of the East- 
ern States, on the subject of improved poultry. 
The extravagances that have grown out of it 
have afforded the lovers of fun not a few oc- 
casions for jest and merriment ; for not a few 
of our notable savans in business and profes- 
sional fame became as much absorbed with this 
branch of research, as they would have been pre- 
B 



viously in matters out of which fortunes were 
to be made. Indeed we have seen these gen- 
tlemen as much galvanized with sleeping zeal 
to ascertain whether a particidar variety of 
fowls should have four toes or five, as in col- 
lecting and adjusting the newly-found bones of 
the famous sea-serpent, or of a mammoth in a 
new locality. But it was ungenerous to laugh 
at them for this new type of human character ; 
for thousands as distinguished as they are have 
evinced in relation to other matters similar 
gushing impulses — the Multicaulis speculation 
for instance. Rarely does a year roll round 
and pass away without leaving on its tomb-stone 
some corresponding inscription of a new-fledged 
zeal that marked its authors for notoriety. 

The motive which led these gentlemen into 
such perils to their reputation was excellent. 
The result to the community will be good with- 
out doubt. The chaff from their harvest will be 
blown away or burnt up, but there will be left 
a residue for use equal to the best wheat. Im- 
provement in the breeds of farm animals is un- 
doubtedly one of the most rational topics that 
has claim on the attention of the farmer. In- 
dividuals who have distinguished themselves in 
it — and there are several in Great Britain and 
this country — have achieved a reputation for 
themselves as undying and far more honorable 
than that of the greatest generals the world ever 
had. The feasibility of such improvement lias 
b»en demonstrated to an extent that places it 
in the first class of objects in which successful 
enterprise in rural economy can be promoted. 
The principles on which such improvement is 



18 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



predicated are pretty well defined ; but the 
philosophy of these principles is among the un- 
fathomable mysteries of nature. In this mat- 
ter, as in numerous other ones, human science 
may advance to certain points; the facts dis- 
covered in the progress may be as prominent and 
incontrovertible as mathematical theorems, and 
as solid as the foundations of a gigantic mount- 
ain, or as transparent as the clear light of noon ; 
but beyond these points human science stands 
appalled — not a step onward can be made, not 
a gleam of light dawns upon the untrodden 
path ; in the prospective all is dark and incom- 
prehensible. 

Every national improvement in the breed 
of animals has originated in a certain degree 
of mania. "If such amateurs had not lavished 
their money upon the turf," says an English 
writer, "we should never have had such good 
horses commonly available ; and the same may 
be said of Short Horned cattle, South Down 
sheep, and priceless pigs." We most cordially 
assent to this, and gladly give our opinion that 
without "this promise of general usefulness" 
neither the exhibitions themselves would have 
received so large a share of public support, nor 
would their promoters have been so anxious for 
their success. Individuals there doubtless are 
for whom the Fantail-pigeon and the Lop-eared 
rabbit possess charms beyond the plumpest Dor- 
king or the tenderest Poland ; but how few are 
they in number when compared to those who 
encouraged these exhibitions simply, from a 
desire that "twelve months hence eggs should 
prove better, chickens cheaper, and all poultry 
more abundant than ever." 

All this is literally and emphatically true in 
relation to animal and vegetable physiology. 
We know that the different races of men, ac- 
cording to commonly-received theories, have 
been occasioned, in a long succession of genera- 
tions, by meteorological influences. But who can 
tell why these influences in the human species 
should have led to the difference in organization, 
complexion, and mental endowment obviously 
characterized in the native American, the Asiat- 
ic, the African, the Malay, and European races? 
None can tell. Conjectures may be raised ; 
hypothetical explanations may be propounded; 



but the real truth lies deeply hidden from hu- 
man investigation. And who can tell, in the 
feathered tribes, why there is such an infinite 
diversity in the plumage for instance? We 
mean not different species, but simply different 
varieties in single species. Why is there such 
an assemblage of varying hue's in the silky ves- 
ture of the proud and exulting peacock, of the 
delicate and matchless bird of paradise, or even 
the beautiful little humming-bird, which seeks 
nourishment, like the honey-bee, from the flow- 
er-garden? Man can no more explain this than 
he can explain why the same vegetable element 
whitens in the lily and reddens in the rose ; or 
why in one plant it becomes sweet, in another 
bitter, and in another acid. These things, and 
similar ones, are among the unrevealed canons 
of infinite wisdom. In relation to them the Au- 
thor of them may and does say to us, as He 
says to the waves of the sea — " Hitherto shalt 
thou come, but no farther." 

Let us look at the tenants of the poultry-yard, 
and much indeed will be presented to our view 
worthy the consideration of the philosopher as 
well as the rural economist. The latter may 
easily estimate the pecuniary value of this 
branch of his investment and care; but can 
the former as easily tell us why there is an al- 
most infinite diversification in the develop- 
ment of the charming birds that enliven the 
mansion and the surrounding inclosures on 
the well-disposed farm — diversification of form, 
of color, of voice, and of social attributes? 
Here is a countless number of mysteries in the 
animal kingdom, which a profound philosopher 
can no more explain than the most unlettered 
peasant. These things are beyond human con- 
ception. We can no more tell why there is 
such a variation and commingling of colors 
in the plumage of the poultry-yard, and why 
there are such deteriorations in the muscu- 
lar organization and development arising from 
successive malproductions, than we can tell by 
what strange process a portion of the human 
family have become the pigmies called Aztecs, 
which attracted so much attention among the 
curious and philosophical. We may, indeed, 
say it is from the operation of the law of na- 
ture ; but of the operative principle of this law 



INTRODUCTION. 



19 



we are as ignorant as we are of the law of at- 
traction that causes the magnetic needle to 
point to the pole of the north. We know it 
is so — we know it must be so, from the tens of 
thousands of cases in which it has been demon- 
strated ; but this is all we know, or all we can 
know on the subject. 

The object of this work is to recommend the 
breeding and rearing of domestic poultry as one 
of the branches of rural economy ; and this we 
shall do by setting forth, as well as our abilities 
will permit, the benefits to be derived from the 
poultry-yard. This will embrace three distinct 
objects. The first, that of rearing poultry for 
amusement and to supply the table of the owner; 
the second, doing the same thing with a view to 
profit; and the third, the benignant influences 
that will arise from it to the various residents 
of the contiguous mansion, both old and young, 
male and female — particularly the youthful and 
female members of the family. 

It is believed that we shall be able to satis- 
fy the reader that the culture of poultry is of 
much more importance than has generally been 
imagined ; and consequently it should become 
one of the first objects of attention with every 
family in the country. 

Every one should be made acquainted with 
the fact that some kinds of domestic fowls are 
more prolific and hardy than others ; that some 
are of greater size ; and that the flesh and eggs 
of some species or varieties are much superior in 
richness and flavor to others. The many sup- 
pose that a " pullet is a pullet, and an egg an 
egg, and that's an end of it ;" not so, however, 
those gastronomes, the old Romans, according 
to Horace. The epicures were particular in the 
variety of their fowls cooked, or that produced 
their eggs, and even went so far as to distin- 
guish between eggs that were supposed to pro- 
duce males and females, as will be seen by the 
following lines : 

" Long be your eggs, far hetter than round ; 
Cock eggs they are, more nourishing and sound." 
Let it be supposed that there are in this 
country three millions of families that possess 
all the conveniences for keeping poultry more 
or less. The number is doubtless greater ; for 
there is no animal that breathes in the service 



of man which has such powers of self-multipli- 
cation or productiveness as fowls. Then let it 
be supposed that to each of the families belong 
ten hens — surely a moderate allowance! yet this 
will make thirty millions for the entire coun- 
try, which, at thirty cents each, constitutes an 
entire investment of nine millions of dollars. 
Four chickens to each hen are probably raised 
for the table, making one hundred and twen- 
ty millions of chickens raised every year for 
that purpose ; which, at the same price, will be 
thirty-six millions of dollars, or forty millions 
of dollars for both. Again, if each of the stock 
hens lays only twelve dozens of eggs in the year 
— less than one dozen in four weeks — there 
will be a product of eggs in the entire country 
of three hundred and sixty millions of dozens. 
These eggs are worth at least two dollars for each 
hen. But allowing one half to go for feeding 
them, there will be left a net profit from the eggs 
of twenty-four millions of dollars annually; mak- 
ing a net profit of sixty millions of dollars from 
the combined production of eggs and chickens. 
Let this result be placed with some of the 
leading staples of the country. The value of 
the flour of the country in 1847 has been set 
down at $140,000,000. If one half of this is 
deducted for cost of production, and that is not 
enough, the value of the poultry is worth more 
to the country than our wheat crop. And tak- 
ing similar data for comparison, it is worth dou- 
ble our oat crop, double our potato crop, double 
our cotton crop, and is equal to our crop of hay. 
Indeed, taking the statistics of our agricultural 
productions that year as a guide, there is but 
one of them that yielded, according to the most 
favorable calculation, so large a net profit as 
the poultry. Or if the poultry did not yield 
as much as supposed, it is because the poultry- 
yard is unduly neglected, and its products un- 
der-estimated. It is affirmed that, with the ex- 
ception of prime cows, there is not on the farm 
a single article of produce, whether animal or 
vegetable, according to the value of the origin- 
al investment, and to the expense and labor 
of production, which yields so much clear prof- 
it as will come from the poultry-yard, if prop- 
erly regulated. This assertion is made with 
confidence, because it is sustained by our own 



20 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



experience, and by a careful examination of the 
subject. What better occupation, or, rather, what 
better amusement can the young members of a 
family have than to feed and watch over the 
poultry of a farm ? In this way they may clothe 
themselves and pay for their books, without in- 
terfering with the school exercises, or any rea- 
sonable labors expected from them in other 
things. 

In this country poultry has ever been consid- 
ered a luxury, and consequently not raised in 
such immense quantities as in France, Egypt, 
and some other countries, where it is used more 
as a necessary article of food than as a deli- 
cacy for the. sick, or a luxury for the table. In 
Erance, poultry forms an important part of the 
live stock of the farmer, and it has been said 
of that country, that the poultry-yards supply a 
much greater quantity of food to the gentle- 
man, the wealthy tradesman, and the substan- 
tial farmer, than the shambles do ; and it is well 
known that in Egypt it has been, from time 
immemorial, a considerable branch of rural 
economy to raise domestic poultry for sale, 
hatched in ovens by artificial heat. 

Connected with every farm establishment 
there should be a poultry-yard. Without it 
the farm is as incomplete as it would be with- 
out a piggery. And there is no reason why 
poultry should not be considered as a species 
of agricultural stock, and turned to as good ac- 
count for both producers and consumers. In- 
deed, every family in the country, although not 
devoted to agriculture, should have one. For 
the mechanic it is important; so it is to the 
professional man and to the merchant. No 
direction or rule can be given as to the size of 
it ; whether it shall contain ten hens, fifty, or 
a hundred. If it is partly designed to produce 
poultry for market, it may, of course, be pro- 
portioned to the demand there is for the prod- 
ucts. If these products are wanted for home 
consumption only, the size of the family shoidd 
regulate the size of the poultry-house and the 
number of the tenants. And in each case it 
is apparent that the amount of feed produced 
on the premises for the use of the fowls, and 
the local conveniences which can be appropria- 
ted to their accommodation, should have an in- 



fluence in deciding how many should be kept. 
These are matters which all can decide for them- 
selves. What might be expedient for one fam- 
ily would be inappropriate to others. Some, too, 
are excessively fond of eggs ; others care less 
about them. The same is true in regard to the 
flesh of poultry. This also will have its influence. 
More eggs, therefore, and a much larger num- 
ber of fowls of a better description, ought to be 
ultimately producible ; and this improvement 
should act on the markets of the country. The 
consumers of poultry in fact, are very numer- 
ous ; and but from its unnecessary high price, 
would be greatly increased. Chickens were 
selling in the New York market in July, 1855, 
not weighing much over one pound each, for 
seventy-five cents the pair. We can see no rea- 
son or excuse for this exorbitant charge. If 
the poultry dealers really fancy they are dis- 
charging any public dtity, they must needs antic- 
ipate greater cheapness and greater abundance 
in the breed of our domestic fowls. That there 
has been an improvement in the size of our do- 
mestic poultry, is evident from the fact that 
a few years since, before the fowl mania, dress- 
ed fowls brought to our markets would seldom 
weigh over two and a half pounds each ; now 
they run up to three, and even five pounds each 
— we speak of the common fowls, as raised by 
the farmers of the country — and this has been 
accomplished by crossing with the imported va- 
rieties, and with better care. 

When fowls were sold by the piece, it was 
no interest to the farmer to increase the size 
of his poultry, as a pair weighing only five 
pounds would command just as much as those 
of six or seven pounds. Now, since they are 
more generally sold by weight, size tells the sto- 
ry. A fowl without any specific claim of weight 
is a very nondescript article ; and since we can 
not as yet see how a couple of fat fowls any 
way deserving the appellation can be sold at 
three shillings per pair, no one can reasona- 
bly object to pay from ten to twelve cents per 
pound, according to the season, for poultry, while 
butcher's meat is from ten to eighteen cents per 
pound for such pieces as one would wish to see 
on his table. 

Bird fanciers are devoting much of their time 



INTRODUCTION. 



21 



in studying the habits and profits of each kind 
of fowl, and the best modes for their treatment. 
It is to be hoped that their labors may prove of 
value to the community. The subject in this 
country, as we have said before, till very recent- 
ly, has attracted little or no attention. It may 
at first be viewed as too insignificant to merit 
consideration. This is natural. Little things 
are frequently treated with contempt, although 
in the aggregate they assume magnitude sur- 
passing credibility. This is literally so with poul- 
try. Because a fair stock of hens can be bought 
for two dollars or so, they are regarded as be- 
neath the rank that entitles them even to kind 
treatment, especially if viewed in connection 
with expected remuneration. But although 
the winter stock of hens on a common farm may 
be estimated at two dollars only, the fair valua- 
tion of these hens in the country gives them a 
commercial importance ranging with some of 
our best products. 

We have estimated the profits of the hen at 
one dollar per year, in addition to paying for 
her food. But she must have good accommo- 
dation, suitable food, and enough of it; then 
our estimate is a low one, provided, also, that 
she is of any good common breed. To show 
this we give a few statistics on that point. 

A correspondent in the New England Farmer 
says that " one of his neighbors kept fifty-four 
hens, three geese, and nine turkeys, which he 
valued at thirty dollars and fifty cents. The 
money received from eggs and the carcasses 
sold was one hundred and seventy-four dollars 
and fifty-nine cents, or a clear profit of eighty- 
five dollars and fifty-one cents." A correspond- 
ent of the Genesee Farmer, who kept twenty-five 
hens, says that "the profit from them in the 
year, after paying all expenses, was twenty-five 
dollars and ninety-two cents" — a trifle above 
our estimate. J. II. Austin, of Canton, Con- 
necticut, has stated the net profits for one year 
on fifteen hens to have been twenty dollars. Mr. 
Crocker, of Sunderland, New Hampshire, had 
a net profit of sixteen dollars and ninety-seven 
cents from seventeen hens in a year. Colonel 
M. Thayer has also stated that he can make 
more profit from one hundred good hens than 
from his farm of two hundred acres. His farm 



is called a good one, and he has been accus- 
tomed to poultry for fifty years. Of this class 
we might extend the number to an almost in- 
definite extent. 

And yet there is another consideration to be 
offered in favor of the poultry-yard. Is there 
nothing in the feathered tribes that dwell there 
to gratify the eye or the ear of those who watch 
over and nourish them? Can not the lover of 
natural beauty see any thing for admiration in 
the well-rounded breast and the gradually ta- 
pering and gracefully curved necks of these 
well-chosen and well-fed birds? Is there no 
beauty in their infinitely variegated plumage ? 
Can human art successfully imitate the silky 
fineness and lustre of their feathers? Where, 
it may be asked, is there in the broad creation 
aught so much to delight the eye as in the poul- 
try-yard filled with a choice collection of beau- 
tiful fowls? And is it possible, with all the 
dye-stuffs in the land or in the sea, for human 
skill to produce such an assemblage of delicate 
and brilliant colors, combined and commingled 
in ten thousand aspects, as are any day display- 
ing themselves in the poultry-yard to the gaze 
and contemplation of their admirers ? If the 
mansion of the farmer is not ornamented, like 
the drawing-room of the rich merchant, with 
costly drapery and tapestry, he may have a 
poultry-yard exhibiting specimens of beauty 
that would be the envy of princes. 

A. B. Allen remarks: "Some look with re- 
gret upon the recent poultry mania which orig- 
inated in New England, where most of our new 
notions are hatched. But we regard it as a 
downright blessing to the country. It has set 
people to thinking, to comparing, and finally 
to importing; and we have thereby greatly im- 
proved the quality of our poultry, and advan- 
tageously and largely augmented their numbers 
— the direct and inevitable consequence of this 
excitement. 

"There is another important matter," con- 
tinues Mr. A., " connected with this poultry 
subject, not to be estimated by dollars and cents, 
but of far more consequence than either. It is 
the social and moral influence they exert, espe- 
cially on the junior members of our families. 
The flower and vegetable gardens, ornamental 



22 



THE AMEBIC AN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



lawn, and useful fields, are all attractive with 
their varied products of beauty and utility ; yet 
they fail to enlist that sympathy and feeling 
which attractive animal life affords. How 
very much more of interest the pet horse, or 
cow, or lamb, excites among the little ones, 
or even among the serious, than the choicest 
trees, or shrubs, or flowers ! And as we descend 
in the scale of size to certain limits, we intensi- 
fy the interest of our children in the domestic 
pets. The tenants of the poultry-yards, with 
their youngling broods, are, of all things, what 
earliest catch and rivet their attention, and de- 
termine their devotion to rural life. By their 
withdrawing their thoughts from trifling games, 
vicious sports and indulgences, or idle, worth- 
less habits, a great point is gained toward de- 
veloping and maturing the future useful mem- 
ber of society. Comparatively few who have 
not the advantages of an extended farm can 
indulge in the luxury of improved flocks and 
extensive herds; but almost every one, not 
closely hemmed in by the brick walls of a city, 
can gratify their taste, and excite that of their 
children, by keeping a few choice fowls. They 
are far preferable to the usual pets — dogs, cats, 
and singing birds ; there is less danger from dis- 
ease from them, much more variety, more scope 
for ingenuity for rearing and attending, and we 
need not add on which side the profit is likely 
to be. If for no other reason, then, than to in- 
terest the children in a useful, attractive pur- 
suit, Ave would say to any person who has the 
room, by all means keep some select poultry." 

It is well known that the constant supervis- 
ion of most farm animals leads to affectionate 
familiarity mutually cherished. These animals 
well know their kind guardian from all others ; 
when fed, they express their grateful looks, and 
wanting feed, their attitude, their motions, their 
beaming eyes, are so many beseeching manifes- 
tations of hunger. It is not, indeed, human 
speech ; it is not a written language ; but their 
keeper understands them perfectly, and if he is 
a man of kindness, he fails not to administer 
to their wants and to cultivate the exercise of 
their sympathies. Let it be asked if he expe- 
riences no pleasure in his intercourse with them, 
and especially in his ministrations to their ne- 



cessities? Does their seeming fondness for 
him inspire no corresponding emotions in his 
bosom? Can he look upon them with the 
heartless indifference that he surveys the stones 
beneath his feet? Does no reciprocity of feel- 
ing spring up beneath them ? It is not possible. 
If it were, he would not deserve the name of 
man. 

The greatest social pleasure felt from an in- 
tercourse with, and a supervision of, dumb ani- 
mals, is that which arises from a supervision of 
the poultry -yard. This is to be expected. The 
intercourse is more constant than with any oth- 
er farm animals. In the time of rearing the 
young, it is seemingly every hour in the da}'. 
The feebleness and the recklessness of young 
birds render this indispensable. In all cases 
the strength of mutual attachments is propor- 
tioned to the degree of constancy of intercourse 
kept tip. This is true in human society. It is 
equally true in the brute creation. It is also 
true where they exist between human beings 
and dumb animals. Even in the stillness of a 
thick darkness that lulls to rest earth's wide 
realm, do we experience no pleasure at the un- 
failing notes of chanticleer proclaiming the 
hour of midnight or of dawning day ? We nev- 
er hear these notes without emotions of joy. 

And with the rising sun what an uninterrupt- 
ed concert opens among the feathered groups ! 
What a jubilee begins to greet the new-born 
energies of the world ! With a hundred hens 
constantly leaving their nests there is an un- 
interrupted succession of their joyful notes. 
Their mouths do not appear to be large enough 
to emit all the boisterous emotions that animate 
them. In the midst of this ceaseless cackling, 
every now and then their lordly mates cause 
the surrounding forests to echo with their shrill 
crowing — and rising above this, at measured 
intervals, is heard the pompous shout of the 
gobbler, almost causing the ground, like the dis- 
charge of cannon, to tremble beneath him. 
And if the Guinea-fowl belongs to this commu- 
nity, as if to increase this vocal jargon, or to 
make burlesque upon it, his harsh voice, not 
unlike the filing in a machine-shop, is heard 
for half a mile. If there is not music in all 
this, there is life in it — there is animation in it. 



INTRODUCTION. 



23 



Whenever witnessed there can be no stupid lan- 
guor, no lugubrious dullness for want of objects 
to inspire a feeling of interest, no painful sen- 
sation of solitude and loneliness. The human 
being that gives no responsive emotion to the 
sounds of this scene must have a heart as im- 
penetrable as adamant, affections as frigid as 
the ice of the poles, and is, indeed, an outcast 
from Nature's temple. 

Yet far more important in a social or sympa- 
thetic view is the pleasure experienced in feed- 
ing poultry, and thus making them, as it were, 
companions. Animal nature is full of social 
impulses, and these impulses are not confined 
in their operation to the particular species in 
which they severally originate. These impulses 
belong to other animals as well as to man. 

In the advancing state of agriculture a pecul- 
iar interest is, at the present moment, thrown 
around every means calculated to advance the 
interests of rural economy ; domestic poultry, 
though last, not least, now comes in for a share ; 
and we are pleased to perceive that more atten- 
tion has of late been directed to this subject. 
There is scarcely an agricultural paper which 
reaches us that does not contain some inqui- 
ries in regard to their management, properties, 
varieties, etc., etc. 

"He who adds," says Boswell, "to the pro- 
ductiveness of any object of nature, which can 
add a unit to the sum of human subsistence, 
and which can render that available for the pur- 
pose which was wasted or useless before, must 
be deemed a benefactor to his species. In this 
light even the rearing a few poultry may be 
viewed ; for by them much of the refuse of the 
kitchen may again appear on the table in a 
new and better form ; and if to them can be 
added the rabbit, the pig, and the cow, there is 
no necessity that any thing be lost or thrown 
away." 

The industrious mechanic can easily associ- 
ate the poultry-yard to add to the comforts of 
his family, to render his leisure hours more 
profitable, and to convert his recreations into 
a reward. With proper arrangements and at- 
tention he may either in a village or city, at a 
trifling expense, keep at least twenty hens that 
will furnish each year from ten to fifteen hun- 



dred eggs and not far from one hundred chick- 
ens, plump and full-grown for the table. 

Among all nations throughout the globe, 
eggs and poultry have been long used and 
highly prized as articles of food. But the lack 
of information, or the want of proper atten- 
tion in the management of fowls, the small 
quantity and high price of eggs in our markets 
during the winter season, cause most persons in 
moderate circumstances to do without them, 
while those of larger means use them as expen- 
sive luxuries. 

" Poultry," says an able author, "has been too 
much undervalued as a means of study and field 
for recreation. Insignificant and, to us, value- 
less wild animals, brought from a distance, about 
whose history and habits we care little or no- 
thing, are received with respectful attention by 
men of education and ability, and embalmed in 
spirits, treasured in museums, and portrayed 
by artists ; but a class of creatures inferior to 
few upon the earth in beauty, useful, compan- 
ionable, and of great value in an economical 
point of view, are discarded and disdained." 

The importance of raising poultry in a pecu- 
niary point of view, has been little appreciated 
by the farmer, and on most farms very little 
attention is paid to the rearing and breeding a 
greater number than can subsist by picking up 
waste or refuse grain, or what might escape the 
pigs and be lost. They are considered unprof- 
itable, and a very insignificant part of live stock 
on the farm ; still, they should not altogether be 
neglected, for there are very few persons wbo 
do not like a fresh-laid egg or a fine fat pullet ; 
and these are some of the fine things which 
happily can be had in perfection by the farm- 
er or mechanic, with very little trouble or ex- 
pense. 

A writer in the Cottage Gardener says, "Look- 
ing at the chicken merely as a macbine for the 
conversion of cheap materials into a costly arti- 
cle of animal food, the point to be considered 
by those who have this object in view, and 
would be guided by motives of economy in 
their selection, is not which macbine will con- 
sume least of the raw materials (for in any 
case the equivalent in the manufactured article 
will be in fixed proportion to tbe amount of 



24: 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



materials employed), but which will manufacture 
the article most expeditiously, and give the 
quickest return of serviceable food ; here I think 
it will not be questioned that the Cochin breed 
possesses this property in a pre-eminent degree." 

The question then naturally arises, which is 
the most profitable breed to keep ? The answer 
must be, that which feeds best at an early age 
at the least expense, and that which possesses 
those properties most valued for food. Where 
every article of food has to be purchased, and 
no range can be permitted beyond limited yards 
and inclosures, there must be sales at fancy 
prices, and, moreover, great skill to remunerate 
the outlay ; but wherever poultry has been kept 
as a regular item in the economy of a farm- 
yard, or even a laborer's cottage, we fully be- 
lieve that a good breed of Dorking or Cochin 
China fowls properly managed will justify our 
present opinion of their merits as early layers, 
as also for their flesh. 

. For beauty the Dorkings surpass the larger 
kinds. They have short legs, small bones, full 
breasts, beautiful white flesh, quite equal in 
that to any breed ; they fatten quickly — indeed, 
if well fed, need no cooping for the table. 

In spite of their high price, in spite of the 
prejudice which exists against the Cochin Chi- 
na for the table, and the quantity of corn they 
are accused of consuming, we do most assured- 
ly believe them to be the best fowl for the poor 
man and the farmer, considering them not as 
fancy, but only as productive stock. 

If it be worth the farmer's or cottager's while 
to keep poultry, it is worth their while to con- 
sider how they may do so most profitably, and 
make the best arrangement for their manage- 
ment in every particular. 

It is an acknowledged fact, and it is not the 
less true, that most old women who live in cot- 
tages know better how to rear chickens than 
any other persons; they are more successful; 
and it may be traced to the fact that they keep 
but few fowls; that these fowls are allowed to 
run freely in the house, to roll in the ashes, to 
approach the fire, and to pick up any crumbs or 
eatable morsels they may find on the ground, 
and are nursed with the greatest care and in- 
dulgence. 



It is not every one who is in possession of 
such an abode for his poultry; but wherever, 
in addition to these advantages, discretion and 
judgment in the selection of the birds are 
shown, the fortunate individual will always be 
a dangerous competitor, both as regards the 
condition of his older birds, and the vigor, 
growth, and form of their offspring. 

Let us not be supposed, by what has been said 
heretofore of the necessity of constant atten- 
tion, to throw any discouragement on poultry- 
keeping; so far from it, one great object of our 
present work is to explain how it may be so done 
as best to pay the cost and labor it must entail. 
But neither in this nor in any other business 
will it answer for a person to engage without 
some experience of what they have to deal with, 
and a careful calculation of outlay and returns. 
Hoping, indeed, that this book may fall into the 
hands of very many to whom the profit and loss 
on their adventure are of importance, our cau- 
tions must be plainly given ; so that, after all, 
the columns of the egg-book and the result of 
sales may not be exceeded by the charges for 
barley, oats, corn, and a host of other items. 

The cottager, the farmer, and the amateur 
who would wish to make his poultry pay, must 
each see to this. It is true that, for those fond 
of such pursuits, there will be much amusement, 
much daily increase of knowledge of the natural 
history and habits of our pets ; where this alone 
is thought worth paying for, no one can find 
fault. But our other friends — and an infinitely 
larger class are thus comprised — must find them- 
selves remunerated for their investment of mon- 
ey or time. No poultry-keeper, indeed, high or 
low, has a right to complain of want of success, 
if he neglects keeping a regular account of food 
consumed and profit by poultry and eggs sold. 
Without this he is journeying in the dark, and 
the usual termination of such undertakings will 
also, doubtless, be his. This hint, we imagine, 
may prove of service to very many of those 
who can least afford to suffer loss by their poul- 
try, and who most desire to increase their gains ; 
for, after all, it is only by following out a reg- 
ular system of management that any person can 
expect to satisfy himself that fowls, of whatever 
breed they may be, do really pay. Many dis- 



INTRODUCTION. 



like the little trouble it may create, and looking 
upon it as an insignificant item, are apt to say, 
"I believe it pays, hot can not speak positively" 
and are content to go on as before ; but at the 
same time they have no right to be surprised if 
their rough calculations neither convince others 
nor fill their own pockets. 

From our own experience we can safely say 
that there are few parts of the farmer's prem- 
ises that can be made to contribute, according 
to the capital invested, more effectually to the 
comfort of the family, and, if properly managed, 
to the aggregate profit of the season, than the 
poultry-yard; and Ave are pleased to observe that 
more attention of late has been directed to the 
subject of domestic fowls. " Take care of the 
cents, and the dollars will take care of them- 
selves," is an old maxim, and, so far as the 
farmer's profits are concerned, we think a true 
one. 

But few species of animals are of so much 
utility as that of the fowl. Whether young, 
adult, or old, male or female, these birds af- 
ford light, wholesome, and strengthening food, 
which is equally suited to those in good health 
and to those in a sick or convalescent state, 
which the art of our modern epicures knows 
how to transform in a thousand different ways, 
and always agreeable, but which is not less suc- 
culent when dressed with temperate plainness. 

But though most farmers keep fowls and 
raise their own eggs, there are many who have 
not learned the difference there is in the rich- 
ness and flavor of eggs produced by well-fed 
hens and those from birds that have been half 
starved through our winters. There will be 
some difference in the size, but far more in the 
quality. The yolk of one will be large, fine 
colored, and of good consistence, and the albu- 
men, or white, clear and pure ; while the con- 
tents of the other will be watery and meagre, as 
though there was not vitality or substance suf- 
ficient in the parent fowl to properly carry out 
and complete the work that nature had sketch- 
ed. In order, therefore, to have good eggs, the 
fowls should be well fed, and also provided with 
gravel during the months they are unable to 
come to the ground, that they may be able to 
grind and prepare their food for digestion. 



Of eggs, those from the domestic hen are de- 
cidedly the best; but those of ducks and geese 
may be used for some of the purposes of do- 
mestic cookery. 

The way in which the fanners in general, in 
this country, manage their poultry, is not the 
best for them or the fowls. They are allowed 
to run where they please, to lay and sit at any 
time they may deem expedient ; when the hen 
comes off with her chickens, she is suffered to 
ramble about, exposing the young brood to cold 
and wet, which thins them off rapidly ; no suit- 
able accommodations are provided for their 
roosting-places, and they are allowed to find a 
place to roost where they can, probably in some 
exposed situation in a tree or shed ; no atten- 
tion is given to feeding them ; and under such 
circumstances it is not to be wondered at that 
few or no chickens are raised, and that fowls 
are sickly or unprofitable. 

When with so little expense to himself a 
farmer may have an abundant supply of eggs 
and raise one or two hundred chickens, it would 
appear strange that the poultry business should 
be so little attended to by the owners of the soil. 
Where crops are sown immediately around the 
barns, it may be inconvenient to have fowls run 
at large, but in many cases fifty or one hundred 
of these birds may be kept, not only without 
injury but with benefit. There are generally 
large quantities of grain scattered in the barn- 
yards and lost unless eaten by fowls ; there are 
myriads of insects, such as flies, bugs, worms, 
grasshoppers, etc., which require to have their 
numbers diminished by the cock and his follow- 
ers ; and even if constantly kept up and fed, ex- 
perience shows that for the amount of money 
invested the poultry-yard contributes in propor- 
tion as great a return as any other part of the 
farm. 

The following rules may be safely given — 
and they are useful ones moreover, in many oth- 
er matters besides those of which we are now 
speaking: Never keep poultry without thinking 
it worth your while to give it a fair share of your 
attention — without satisfying yourself, if your 
time is otherwise employed, that it lias the at- 
tention of your servant. Never keep persona 
for that purpose who do not show, by activity and 



2G 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



forethought, that they are fond of this employ- 
ment, and who think of it at other times beyond 
the periods in which they are actually engaged 
about it. When you are fortunate enough to 
find these various qualifications united, you may 
hope for the best, and will probably find that 
many a useful observation as to the peculiar 
characteristics of the different breeds, and many 
a hint that may be profitably acted on, will re- 
ward your discrimination. 

It is quite certain nothing has become so 
general or so universally popular in modern 
times as a taste for the culture of domestic poul- 
try. This has arisen most probably, in a great 
measure, from the two-fold fact, that though a 
most exceedingly pleasant recreation, it has 
proved itself far more remunerative, in a pecun- 
iary point of view, than any other public fan- 
cy of recent date; the latter, no doubt, having 
ensued in no slight degree from the anxiety to 
obtain first-rate specimens wherewith to com- 
pete at the public exhibitions of poultry. A 
few years since the prices obtained easily for 
fancy fowls would have been considered fab- 
ulous, and their purchasers jeered right hearti- 
ly on the utter possibility of ever "seeing their 
money again." Time, however, that proves all 
things, shows that some of those who were thus 
situated had displayed greater foresight than 
their neighbors, and thus obtained considerable 
emolument from a source that had for many 
years been almost altogether neglected, or the 
profits of which, thus carelessly and indolently 
obtained, were only appropriated as "pin-mon-; 
ey" for the wife and daughters of the family 
generally. It is now far different, and many 
have largely increased their incomes by the 
produce of some three or four hundred of well- 
selected poultry. 

" There appears," says an English writer, " to 
have been two radical errors into which aspir- 
ants for poultry honors have by far too gener- 
ally fallen, viz., the supposition they might get 
very first-rate produce from indifferent stock; 
and others have erred quite as glaringly by 
adopting the plan of buying, at any price, those 
fowls only that have taken first prizes at the 
poultry shows. A few moments quiet reflection 
will tend to prove the fallacy of either plan. 



" It is a well known fact that even when fowls 
are bred from the purest strains, all the produce 
will not evidence equal purity with their par- 
ents as to the characteristics of that particular 
variety to which they belong; it will, therefore, 
be easily conceived how infinitely removed are 
the probabilities of obtaining such where the 
'blood stock' are only tolerable character; and 
as regards the purchase of first-rate prize pens 
only, this arrangement is open to the very seri- 
ous objection that by so doing we have no change 
of blood, and the past experience of many a 
disappointed amateur has proved, and doubtless 
the dearly-bought knowledge of others will yet 
confirm that the undeviating and inevitable con- 
sequences of such 'interbreeding' will be im- 
becility and deterioration of character in the 
offspring." 

It is hardly necessary to draw the attention 
of breeders generally to the fact, how few ani- 
mals in England have maintained their superi- 
ority for a series of years in any particular va- 
riety, unless by the exhibition of the same cause 
which exists when first prize pens only are pur- 
chased for breeding stock by a wealthy new be- 
ginner. All being from the same blood, their 
offspring (if any) are puny r weakly, and highly 
susceptible of disease. These much-to-be- 
dreaded consequences are easily obviated by 
obtaining the male birds from one strain, their 
hens or pullets (as the case may be) from an- 
other and different one, then, if well selected, 
there is but little fear but there will be ample 
cause for self-congratulation as to their produce 
for a couple of generations, after Avhich period 
deterioration will certainly ensue if the same 
plan is not again repeated. 

We will just advert to one other most uni- 
versal mistake into which an unreflecting novice 
is almost certain to inveigle himself unwittingly, 
vis., a thirst for more poultry than he has the 
means to accommodate ; the consequence is, the 
adult fowls are bad enough, but on the youn- 
ger branches it acts with crushing effect ; and 
certain it is, that many a one has seen conta- 
gion spreading its baneful influences on every 
side within the precincts of his poultry-yard, 
without the slightest supposition ever crossing 
his mind that his own former imprudence was 



INTRODUCTION. 



27 



the foster-parent of all his present troubles. We 
need scarcely insist on the all-important subject 
of the most scrupulous care as to cleanliness in 
every department of a poultry-yard, whether in 
regard to water, food, or the roosting-houses. 
If proper attention is early given, good food used, 
and the fowls have been carefully and wisely 
chosen in the first place, we do not fear an un- 
satisfactory result. 

We advocate beginning well, that is, with 
the best stock that can possibly be obtained ; 
but certainly nothing can be conceived much 
more absurd than giving twenty-five, twenty, or 
even ten dollars per head for fowls, at the same 
time indulging in the hope of our ever making 
them pay a suitable return. Had not this fre- 
quently been done, and even greater prices ob- 
tained of late years, there would have been but 
trifling necessity for maintaining it; but were 
many who have paid such prices candid in their 
acknowledgments, we doubt not they would 
themselves admit to having ere this both seen 
and likewise paid for their inexperience and 
folly. 

At many of the country establishments in 
Europe the buildings and yards for fowls are 
arranged on an extensive scale, comprising ev- 
ery necessary building, commodiously planned, 
and embracing every necessary or accessory 
required for the natural propensities, the com- 
fort, and the protection of the various kinds : 
apartments which can be occasionally heated 
for the tender birds ; basins of water which can 
be frequently emptied and refilled, and several 
inclosures of grass or orchard grounds as out- 
lets for the poultry to range in alternately. The 
yards or outlets are also surrounded by high 
picket fences, to prevent the escape of the fowls 
or entrance of enemies. A keeper, male or fe- 
male, is usually appointed to take care of the 
whole, and receive the orders for the required 
supplies of the family. 

After all, perhaps, there is no better range for 
fowls, kept in any considerable quantities, nor 
one that seems so suitable as a well-arranged 
farmyard with suitable houses and accommoda- 
tions for the poultry. The benefit of untold food, 
the opportunities of selecting the most shelter- 
ed and warm situations for roosting, and the 



constant scratching in the straw in the thresh- 
ing season, were advantages, we are aware, not 
now generally obtained ; but our object in the 
narration of this is, that though for many years 
from eighty to one hundred fowls composed 
the breeding stock, and in summer time the 
amount was frequently four times that number, 
the occupants stated they never lost ten full- 
grown fowls from disease in as many years, 
and that their chief mishaps were from the cat- 
tle treading on the chickens when small. 

Under this treatment eggs were obtained 
early in the season, and chickens were pro- 
duced very much earlier than at the surrounding 
farms, where no accomodations were provided, 
while, as the rage for fancy fowls did not then ex- 
ist, and consequently the returns were entirely 
limited to their value for the table, the result 
was far better from the poultry than from any 
othei description of stock around the homestead. 
Chickens reared in this way were always plump 
and ready — a very significant remark, that at 
any age they are sure to be in condition. The 
eggs were anxiously sought for, at much higher 
than market price, as they could always be de- 
pended upon for the purpose of the breakfast- 
table, and the rich brown color of the shell was 
a feature that was generally approved. 

Any person who neglects fair and legitimate 
means for profitably increasing the business lie 
is engaged in, because the source from which 
such increase springs is small, commits an er- 
ror. Now, this error is very commonly com- 
mitted in farming stock, as applied to poultry. 
There are few farmers in this country who do 
not possess poultry; that is, various descrip- 
tions of small inferior birds, which rarely attain 
size and have not the quality of layers to com- 
pensate. Taking an average of farms, large 
and small, throughout the country, the number 
of breeding birds on each may be calculated at 
fifty or more. The usual practice is to allow 
the birds to breed in-and-in, haphazard; occa- 
sionally a hen is added, as an "excellent A ///"%" 
and her small progeny, bred from an inferior 
cock bird, are kept with the other.-:. On more 
carefully -managed, farms occasionally a large 
cock bird of no particular breed is added ; hut 
this is the utmost, and the consequence is ap- 



28 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



parent in the general appearance and smallness 
of barn-yard poultry. 

The mere fact of poultry being kept as a part 
of farming stock is at once an admission of its 
necessity. To the man who is content to cul- 
tivate his land, and keep the class of live stock, 
as in by-gone days, little can be said, but a 
suggestion to the improving farmer may not be 
cast away. We suppose it to be part of the 
Anglo-Saxon character to make business of 
every thing, and, when undertaken, to do it 
heartily. This may be the reason why the 
poultry movement is confined to this country 
and England. That which a few years since 
was unknown, is now becoming a great pursuit, 
and affording a delightful and innocent change 
to those who require it after a day of toil. It 
has called forth a spirit of emulation, and, true 
to our first remark, it has endeavored to turn it 
to account. The same mania assumes the same 
feature in each country ; exhibitions, sales, and 
friendly paper war. Both quote from each oth- 
er's papers, and the judgments of certain breeds 
are carefully canvassed on either side of the 
Atlantic. 

Eor good poultry there is a sale, and where 
there has not hitherto been, they will supply 
one. The fact that they are to be had of a 
good quality will cause a demand to be made 
for them. In all cities there is always a de- 
mand, and, like other provisions, there are dif- 
ferent periods for different prices ; and here it is 
that Poultry Shows do much good in offering 
premiums for early maturity. If those who 
have facilities for rearing chickens in March or 
even February, take them to market in May and 
June, or even July, they can not fail to receive 
a remunerating price, say from thirty-seven and 
a half to fifty cents per pair for chickens four 
months old ; at this season, less than thirty-sev- 
en and a half cents would be ridiculously low. 

Eor early spring chickens such prices are nec- 
essary, when the cost of production is duly con- 
sidered; and this at once indicates the main 
point toward which the improvement of Poul- 
try Societies should be directed — the combina- 
tion, as nearly as may be, in one bird, of early 
maturity, hardihood of constitution, and excel- 
lence, no less than quantity of meat. 



A few more words as to the age at which we 
should kill, and the system on which we should 
feed, and then follows the main point — how 
much per head it costs to keep them, and what 
profit over and above the outlay. 

Pour months is long enough for any early 
cockerel to exist that is destined for the kitch- 
en ; if a late bird, and consequently of slower 
growth, add another month to his life ; but let 
him not, under any circumstances, exceed the i 
six. He is killed then with the most profit, 
whether for our own consumption or for sale. 
Pullets will usually be ready from three months 
till they are about to lay, during which they 
would be greatly depreciated for the table. 
Here observe the quick return; and surety it 
will be admitted that no other breed of fowls 
can rival the Cochin China and Brahma breed 
in this particular. 

The following deserves attention. A con- 
sidei'ation most valuable to the poor man, and 
to those who have their interest at heart, is the 
indifference of Cochin China or Brahma fowls 
to first-rate accommodation. They are very ro- 
bust and healthy, very seldom ill, and less easily 
injured, from the egg-shell upward, than most 
kinds. 

Whatever may be the result of the poultry 
mania, it is unquestionable that the demand for 
poultry will continue. Immense numbers of 
fowls are being disposed of daily, and although 
the supply may be greatly increased, it is un- 
equal to the demand. It was said years ago, 
that when canals and railroads were completed, 
horses and oats woidd be unsalable. Every 
one who has paid any attention knows that has 
not been the fact, for horses and oats were nev- 
er higher than at present, and it will be so with 
poultry. We are entirely without statistical re- 
turns on the subject, but if they were compiled, 
people wovdd be astonished at the great con- 
sumption both of eggs and poultry. 

Poultry, except to rich people, has always 
been a luxury ; it may still continue so during 
a few months in the year; but there is no rea- 
son why in the autumn and winter months it 
should not be within the reach of those whose 
means are small. It can be raised at little ex- 
pense and sold at a- reasonable rate, and where- 



INTRODUCTION. 



I'll 



ever it is offered for sale, purchasers will also 
be found. 

There is so much truth and practical good 
sense in the following remarks, by A. B. Allen, 
in the American Agriculturist, that we can not 
resist the temptation of transferring them to our 
pages : " It is within ten years past only that 
public attention has been somewhat awakened 
to the true value of poultry as an article of do- 
mestic stock, or as creatures of sufficient merit 
and beauty in themselves to render them worth 
attention beyond the rude clowns of the barn- 
yard, or the pence-saving economy of the com- 
mon housewife. In the multiplied objects, how- 
ever, which increased intelligence and luxury 
are continually adding to the demands of coun- 
try life, the resources of the poultry-yard have 
been drawn into active requisition. The vari- 
ous species, kinds, varieties, and tribes of the 
whole domesticated feathered world have been 
examined, their merits canvassed, and their 
subjects appropriated to the use, pleasure, and 
amusement of our people to a degree certainly 
never equaled since our country had a popula- 
tion. As a matter of taste they have become 
a branch of the fine arts — 'high art,' as poor 
Haydon, in his enthusiasm for art-progress, 
would have called it. 

" There is as much science, taste, and art in 
breeding poultry ' to a feather,' as in breeding 
a horse to the highest racing or trotting speed, 
and to our notion, quite as useful to the world 
at large — and, in their consequences, vastly less 
productive of the questional commodity of fast 
men than the latter pursuit. We have sat at 
the dinner-table where grave and reverend gen- 
tlemen sipped their wine and bobbed their heads 
toward each other with the most potential dig- 
nity, and where wine vaults, the years of their 
vintage, and the manner of their keeping, were 
discussed for hours together, and not a single 
idea eliminated during the whole sitting; and 
if in place of such a bore, the company could 
have adjourned to a well-bred poultry-yard, and 
discussed the merits of its several inhabitants, 
with the taste and intelligence which they de- 
served, each one would have been the wiser in 
head, and better in stomach and body for the 
transition. 



"We are not going to talk now of fowls as 
economical things, or as a branch of domestic 
stock. This question, we take it, has been, 
from time immemorial, settled in the affirma- 
tive. For present purposes Ave are content to 
consider them as an amusement, an ornament, 
as a subject of beauty, of interest, and as a study 
for the leisure hours of the country or the 
town, or city resident either, if opportunity fa- 
vors their keeping. Nor are we about to find 
fault with, or to criticise the taste of any one 
in the selection of a variety, or the several va- 
rieties that he may keep, although we frankly 
confess that we never fancied the monstrous 
Asiatic fowls that are at present so highly pop- 
ular. We admire the medium sized and more 
graceful birds that show finished breeding and 
high quality, as we would prefer the refined and 
blood-like Arabian to the large Clydesdale or 
Canestoga draught horses. Such, however, is 
only individual opinion, and the wherefore need 
not at this time be discussed. 

"The great show at Barnum's, contrary to 
general expectation, brought out altogether the 
finest, largest, and choicest exhibition ever wit- 
nessed in America. Of their kinds, there were 
scarcely a pair of inferior birds in the collection 
— and many fowls came five hundred miles for 
the occasion. This very fact shows that poul- 
try fanciers within striking distance of New 
York have confidence in the society, in its man- 
agers, in the ability of Mr. Barnum to carry it 
out, and in his integrity to do what lie prom- 
ised. So far all was well, as, of course, it should 
be. 

"As an evidence of the interest felt among 
the fanciers of all ranks and all fortunes, except 
the rascally low and worthless (not an individ- 
ual of these, have we learned, that made an of- 
fering on the occasion), they sent their birds, 
generally attended by themselves, and took a 
lively interest in every thing that appertained 
to the proceedings. We saw highly distin- 
guished scientific gentlemen, lawyers, and states- 
men of great repute ; grave divines, " wise with 
the lore of centuries;" merchants and com- 
mercial men, called, by way of eminence, 'mill- 
ionares ;' artisans, farmers; men of no occupa- 
tion, sometimes styling themselves, by way of 



30 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



notoriety, gentlemen — singly, and with their 
wives and daughters and little children, all 
eagerly threading their Avay through and by 
each other, themselves constantly around or 
stopping to gaze at the coops and cages, intent 
on seeing every thing, examining a great many 
birds, and holding spirited conversations at va- 
rious points and angles of each of the great halls 
where the chickens were congregated ; and not 
once only, but repeatedly, day after day, during 
the show, did we see some of the same individ- 
uals, groups, and families. 

" Now this means something. People would 
not congregate at this inclement season, from 
fifty to five hundred miles distant to witness 
a 'chicken show' in New York, unless there 
was ' something in it.' There is something in it. 
There is a study in it; a subject for investiga- 
tion ; a delightful contemplation in natural his- 
tory, to speculate upon the almost numberless 
varieties that are produced, and their beautiful, 
harmonious arrangement of plumage, shape, 
and all the wonderful qualities they possess. 
They are a thing to love, to interest young 
minds, and old ones too, who have enough of 
the natural left in their artificial thoughts to 
appreciate any thing. They are among the 
things that make country life interesting, and 
attach people to home, and make it pleasanter 
to them than all the world beside. It shows, 
too, that the world is growing better in domes- 
tic feeling and home attachment — that little 
things are worth looking after, and although of 
no great magnitude, that one had better feel 
interested in a chicken, goose, duck, or pigeon, 
than not be interested at all — and children and 
young minds, if not amused by innocent things, 
will surely become interested in vicious ones. 

"To breed a good chicken, duck, goose, or 
turkey — a good animal of any kind— requires 
thought, skill, observation, study, and genius. 
Not so much either, perhaps, as to be a finished 



sculptor or painter; but breeding perfect models in 
form, grace, and plumage, is an accomplishment 
in the fine arts, as well as to perpetuate their 
similitudes in marble, or fix them on canvas." 

The following remarks upon fowls in general 
we find in the New York Journal : "Fashion 
is very eccentric in the different forms it takes, 
and often breaks out in unlooked-for ways and 
upon unthought of subjects : and in nothing has 
it been more violent or more absolute than in 
poultry. Politics, metaphysics, religion, stocks, 
have been in many places banished from every 
circle for more edifying and profitable discus- 
sions upon the relative merits of Shanghais or 
Cochin Chinas. Country gentlemen have taken 
to experimenting on various breeds, and a vig- 
orous speculation is often carried on upon Powl 
Exchange, equaling, if not excelling, the interest 
and excitement at the Board. upon the fluctua- 
tions of undiscoverable mining and coal com- 
panies that are blessed with names above — their 
'local habitations' being beyond the power of 
man to discover. In Wall Street, where pups 
and mice, rabbits, birds, candies, fruits, big Irish- 
men with little mock-watches, jujube-paste, pop 
corn, cutlery, things to eat, to wear, to look at, 
and to put to no use or ornament whatever — in 
Wall Street, where, upon every step and curb- 
stone, these things assemble, prominent among 
all are Cochins, Chittagongs, Malays, Spanish, 
Shanghais, Dorkings, Rumpkins, Frizzled, Ban- 
tams, and innumerable others, where shrill and 
loud crowings mingle with the chink of gold, 
and the incessant jargon of bargain and sale. 
And no more interesting feature does the busy 
mart present, judging from the admiring crowd, 
who are gathered continually around them. 
The sales of these fancy birds in this street 
amount daily to a large number. They bring 
extraordinary high prices, and there are doubt- 
less many shrewd breeders who skillfully keep 
up the passion, thereby reaping large profits." 



GENERAL VIEWS. 




CHAPTER I. 

GENERAL VIEWS: DOMESTIC POULTRY. 



Under the term Domestic Poultry, are un- 
derstood the cock and hen, turkey, duck, goose, 
pea and guinea fowl, to which perhaps may be 
added, the swan. Although fowls used for the 
table are, by nature, granivorous, yet all the va- 
rious species, the goose perhaps excepted, are 
carnivorous likewise, and great devourers of fish 
and flesh. 

By propagation and crossing, gallinaceous 
fowls have been distributed into endless varie- 
ty; but without including the more marked 
breeds, Dr. Bechstein distinguishes eight varie- 
ties of the common barn-yard fowl; viz., the 
fowl with a small comb; the slate-blue fowl; 
the silver-colored fowl; the chamois-colored 
fowl ; the ermine-like fowl ; the crowned fowl ; 
the widow, which has white tear-like spots on a 
dark ground ; and the fire and stone-colored 
fowls. It is difficult, however, in many cases 
to identify the distinctions mentioned by for- 
eign writers with the fowls bred in this coun- 
try. 

If one wishes to be acquainted with the nature 



and the inclinations of fowls, one is obliged to 
have recourse to the poultry-yard; for we know 
nothing of the habits of wild fowls; but a long 
bondage has operated such great alterations in 
the nature of our fowls, that it is not easy to 
come at their original character. For instance, 
the tame fowl makes no nest; the wild one 
surely does. The fecundity of the former is in 
a measure unbounded; except in the moulting 
season, it lays almost incessantly; analogy will 
not allow us to doubt but that, in the wild tribe, 
the laying must be considerably confined, and 
that it takes place only at regular times. 

The cock is to the fanner a living clock, 
where exactness, to be sure, is not quite so cor- 
rect as some of our Connecticut-made wooden 
clocks; but is sufficient, nevertheless, to point 
out the divisions of the day and night, of labor 
and rest. 

The attitudes of the cock arc those of haught- 
iness; he carries his head high ; bis look is bold 
and quick ; his gait is grave ; all bis motions be- 
speak a noble assurance ; he seems to reign over 



32 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



the other inhabitants of the poultry-yard. His 
activity is indefatigable, and he is never deficient 
in vigilance. Constantly taken up with his mates, 
he warns them out of danger, gets before them, 
and if obliged to yield to force, which robs him 
of one, he for a long time expresses by loud out- 
cries his anger and his regrets ; feeling for their 
suffering, he again utters loud and sonorous ex- 
clamations, when by their cries they announce 
the pains or fatigues of laying. A softer cluck- 
ing is the signal by which he calls them ; his un- 
usual shrill crow is, at the same time, the ex- 
pression of his continual vigilance, the cry of 
victory after an engagement, and the accent of 
satisfied love. It was formerly thought that the 
cock and the nightingale were the only day birds 
that sung and crowed at night ; other species also 
warble after sunset ; but all, as well as the night- 
ingale, are quiet when the season of love is over ; 
whereas the tame cock crows every day and ev- 
ery night throughout its whole existence. How- 
ever, there is some ground to presume that it is 
otherwise in a state of nature, and that the crow- 
ing of the wild cock is no more, as with other 
birds, than the momentary accent of his loves. 

If the life of the domestic cock be an unin- 
terrupted series of enjoyments, it is also com- 
monly a continual scene of war. As soon as 
a rival comes forward, the fight begins, and only 
ends by the retreat of one of the champions. 
Sometimes both rivals die in the battle. If 
one of them be conqueror, he immediately cel- 
ebrates his triumph by repeated crowings and 
by flapping his wings. The other disappears, 
abashed at being defeated. 

Less spirited than the males, hens are also 
milder and more timid ; though they fight with 
each other, and, for a moment, with ten times 
more fury than the cocks. Their voice is less 
sonorous ; but its different modulations show 
that they, as well as the cocks, have a varied 
language; after having laid, they utter loud 
cries ; if they call their chickens together, it is 
by a short, grave clucking; they warn them out 
of danger by a monotonous and lengthened 
cry, which they repeat till the bird of prey is 
out of sight; in fine, they keep up, betAveen 
themselves, a continual cackling, which seems 
to be a coherent conversation between these 



very chattering females. There are some hens 
which faintly imitate the crowing of the cock ; 
they are usually the young ones of the year, and 
they do not always keep on this mimic fancy, 
as I have ascertained by following several of 
those crowing hens, which happened to be at 
different times in my poultry-yard. As to the 
rest, they had none of those exterior characters 
which could bring them near the cock; they lay 
like the rest, and it is wrong that they should 
be generally proscribed as either barren or as 
ill-omened. The housewives of Lorraine, and 
several other parts of France, are forward in 
putting to death every hen that imitates the crow- 
ing of the cock, which in their eyes is the effect 
of a charm ; hence a very jocular saying, in 
which there is some meaning: "A hen that 
crows, a parson that dances, a woman that talks 
Latin, never come to any good." 

"In the mythology of the ancients," says 
Main, " the cock was the symbol of vigilance. 
Polytheism consecrated it to Minerva and Mer- 
cury ; it was offered to JEsculapius, the God of 
Medicine, on recovering from illness. The Ro- 
mans used to keep sacred pullets, and they un- 
dertook nothing of consequence before they had 
consulted the auspices of this prophetic fowl. 
Its meals were solemn omens, which regulated 
the conduct of the senate and the armies." 

The cock is remarkable for his haughty, 
grave, stately gait, for his courage and vigi- 
lance, for his attachment to his hens, for his 
amorous disposition, and his means of satisfy- 
ing it. 

The cock begins paying his addresses to the 
hens from the time he is four months old ; his 
full vigor only lasts three years, though he may 
live till ten. It is remarked that in cocks of 
the large species, the procreative qualities are 
later in coming forward; they probably enjoy 
it longer. As soon as the cock gets less nim- 
ble he is no more worthy to figure in the se- 
raglio ; his successor must be the finest, the most 
brave of all the supernumerary young cocks in 
the poultry-yard. 

Peace does not continue long between cocks, 
among which the empire of the poultry-yard has 
been divided ; as they are all actuated by a rest- 
less, jealous, hasty, fiery, ardent disposition, 



GENERAL VIEWS. 



33 



their quarrels are frequent, and generally very 
bloody. A fight soon follows the provocation. 
The two adversaries face each other; their 
feathers are bristled up, the neck stretched out, 
the head low, the bill ready ; they observe each 
other in silence, with fixed and sparkling eyes. 
On the least motion of either they set off to- 
gether, they stand stiff, rush forward, and dash 
against each other, and repeat the same ma- 
noeuvre, till the one that is most adroit, and is 
the strongest, has torn the comb of his enemy, 
has thrown him down, by flapping him with his 
wings, or has stabbed him with his spurs. 

The disposition of cocks for fighting so des- 
perately, especially when they are not used to 
live together, and meet for the first time, the 
courage and obstinacy which they evince in this 
often dreadful contest, have given Englishmen 
the idea of exhibiting these cock-fights in public. 
It is that sort of tragedy they seem to like in 
preference. The annals of these sights men- 
tion a very singular sympathy between two 
cocks. They had successively beaten all the 
others; they could never be made to fight to- 
gether, notwithstanding the stimulus of the most 
hateful passions. 

Mowbray relates the following: "Every one 
has heard the horrible story of Ardesoif of Tot- 
tenham, who being disappointed by a famous 
game-cock refusing to fight, was incited by his 
savage passion to roast the bird alive, while en- 
tertaining his friends. The company, alarmed 
by the dreadful shrieks of the victim, interfered, 
but were resisted by Ardesoif, who threatened 
death to any who should oppose him : and in a 
storm of raging and vindictive delirium, and ut- 
tering the most horrid imprecations, he dropped 
down dead. I had hoped to find this among the 
thousand fanatical lies which have been coined 
on the insane expectation that truth can be ad- 
vanced by the propagation of falsehood ; but to 
my sorrowful disappointment, on a late inquiry 
among the friends of the deceased miscreant, I 
found the truth of the horrible story but too 
probable." 

CHOICE OF THE COCK. 

On the opposite page we introduce a white 
Dorking as a "model cock" of the domestic 
C 



fowl. The artist, however, has given him rath- 
er larger legs than belong to. the breed. 

The choice of the cock is a very important 
thing. It is accounted that he has every requi- 
site quality, when he is of a pretty good size, 
when he carries his head high, and has a 
quick, animated look, a strong and shrill voice, 
the bill thick and short, the comb of a fine red, 
and in a manner varnished; a membraneous 
wattle of a large size, and colored the same as 
the comb, the breast broad, the wings strong, 
the plumage dark, the thighs muscular, the legs 
thick, and sixpplied with long spurs, the claws 
supplied with nails rather bent, and with a very 
keen point ; when he is free in his motions, 
crows often, and scratches the earth with con- 
stancy, in search of worms, not so much for 
himself as his mates ; when he is brisk, spirited, 
ardent, and clever in caressing them, quick in 
defending them, attentive in soliciting them to 
eat, in keeping them together in the day, and 
assembling them at night. 

"The courage of the cock," says Mr. Dixon, 
"is emblematic; his gallantry admirable; his 
sense of discipline and subordination most ex- 
emplary. See how a good game-cock of two 
or three years' experience, will, in five minutes, 
restore perfect order in an uproarious poultry- 
yard. He does not use harsh means of coer- 
cion, when mild will suit the purpose. A look, 
a gesture, a deep chuckling growl gives the hint 
that the turbulence is no longer to be permit- 
ted ; and if these are not effectual, severe pun- 
ishment is fearlessly administered. Nor is lie 
aggressive to birds of other species. He allows 
the turkey to strut before his numerous dames, 
and the Guinea-fowl to court his single mates 
uninterrupted ; but if the one presumes upon 
his superior weight, and the other on his cow- 
ardly tiltings from behind, he soon makes them 
smart for their rash presumption. His polite- 
ness to females is as marked as were those of 
Lord Chesterfield to old ladies, and much more 
unaffected. Nor does he merely act the agree- 
able dangler; when occasion requires, he is also 
the brave defender." 

There are some cocks, which, by being too 
high mettled, are very snappish and quarrelsome. 
The way to quiet these turbulent ones is plain; 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



their foot must be put through the middle of a 
bit of leather in a round shape ; they become 
as quiet as men who are fettered at their hands, 
feet, and neck. 

The cock loves cleanliness ; he is careful of 
his coat; you often see him busy in combing, 
polishing, and stroking his feathers with his 
bill. If, like the robin and the thrush, he has 
not the ambition of excelling in his note, one 
may.at least think that he is particularly jeal- 
ous in showing that he has a very loud, shrill, 
and powerful voice. In fact, when he has crow- 
ed, he listens to know whether he is answered ; 
or, should he hear another, he begins again di- 
rectly, and he seems to defy him to raise his 
voice above his own. Often of a dark night, 
this crowing, repeated by every cock in the vil- 
lage, has reached the ear of the benighted trav- 
eler, and has enabled him the better to direct 
his steps. 

CHOICE OF THE HEN. 

The good qualities of hens, whether intended 
for laying or for breeding, are of no less im- 
portance to be attended to than those of the 
cock. The hen is deservedly the acknowledged 
pattern of maternal love. When her passion of 
philoprogenitiveness is disappointed by the fail- 
ure or separation of her own brood, she will 
either go on sitting, till her natural powers fail, 
or she will violently kidnap the young of anoth- 
er fowl, and insist upon adopting them. But 
all hens are not alike. They have their little 
whims and fancies, likes and dislikes, as ca- 
pricious and unaccountable as those of other 
females. Some are gentle in their manners 
and disposition, others are sanguinary; some 
are lazy, others energetic almost to insanity. 
Some, by their very nature, are so mild and fa- 
miliar, and so fond of the society of man, that 
they can scarcely be kept out of his dwelling; 
others seem to say, " Thank you, but I'd rather 
be left to myself." 

SELECTING AND BREEDING. 

In the selection of breeding stock, whatever 
variety preferred, avoid, if possible, near rela- 
tionship, or breeding from birds produced from 
the same parents. Pullets for breeding should 



be selected annually from early spring birds; 
and tliey will then begin to lay in the spring of 
the following year. These birds, if then put 
with a cock a year or two their senior, will pro- 
duce finer and more vigorous chickens than old- 
er hens. Every second year the patriarch of the 
yard might be disposed of, and his successor 
introduced from a different strain. If he is a 
special favorite, then must the pullets be ob- 
tained elsewhere. No cock should be kept 
more than three seasons, nor a hen more than 
four, if it is intended to keep them in the high- 
est possible perfection and efficiency. We re- 
peat, avoid relationship in your breeding stock 
wherever possible. In a state of nature these 
evils would not have manifested themselves; 
but in the highly artificial condition in which 
poultry are now presented to us, the case is to- 
tally different, and the remedy must be sought, 
as with cattle, sheep, and swine, in the con- 
stant infusion of fresh blood — the best that may 
be attainable. 

When for the infusion of fresh blood, another 
cock is to be introduced into the yard, it should 
be during the autumn, that the hens may be- 
come accustomed to him before the important 
operation of spring commences. 

The poultry-yard is a place where the stu- 
dent of natural history will see many things 
to amuse and instruct. The plumage of birds 
has always formed an object of pleasing con- 
templation. The God of nature has shown by 
it his love of spreading beauty over all his 
works, and opening up every source for the pure 
enjoyment of man. The splendid coloring of 
many of our domestic fowls is not necessary 
in itself, and must have been bestowed as a 
means of pleasure to the beholder. 

"If people," says M. Reaumur, "are affected 
with the kind of pleasure so transitory to the 
enthusiastic florists, who procure it but for a 
few days, by a world of care and toil, continued 
through a whole year ; if they are affected by 
the variety and fine combinations of colors in 
their favorite flowers, the poultry-yard, when 
well managed, may be made to offer them end- 
less pleasures of the same description." 

The greater number of cocks, even of the 
most common kind, are beautifully penciled, 



GENERAL VIEWS. 



and when exposed to the play of the sun's rays 
exhibit the brightest hues, almost rivaling the 
gorgeous coloring of the rainbow. The hens 
are sometimes spotted with great beauty and 
regularity; some white and silvery, others by 
their bright orange tints appearing golden, and 
there is of the most common kinds an almost 
endless variety. In their colors they embrace 
the opposite extremes of light and shade, and 
all the tints that lie between them. 

These colors are sometimes submitted to very 
remarkable changes in the same individual, at 
different stages of their existence. When new- 
ly hatched, the acutest poulterer could not pre- 
dict of what precise color they would become, 
for it is not found invariably to run in the blood. 
After moulting, some fowls have been known 
to turn out a different color from what they 
were. Even without moulting the feathers of 
the white have been tipped with black as sud- 
denly as the hair of some men has in the course 
of a night been turned into gray. 

The changes of color which some of the do- 
mestic fowls undergo in the process of moulting 
are most singular and inexplicable. M. Reau- 
mur gives the following instance of change of 
color, amorig many others: " One of my hens, 
readily distinguished by a crooked claw, had 
feathers of the ruddy-brown color mixed with 
brown, so common among barn-yard fowls. A 
year after, she was observed to be almost black, 
with here and there a white spot. At the sec- 
ond moulting, black was the predominant color, 
and only a few white patches of the size of a 
half-crown could be perceived. At the succeed- 
ing moult all the black disappeared, and the 
hen became pure white." In another case of 
a cock presented to M. Reaumur as a curios- 
ity, the following changes occurred: in the first 
year he was of the common ruddy brown mixed 
with white ; in the second, he was all over ruddy 
brown, or rather red without white ; in the third, 
uniformly black ; in the fourth, uniformly white ; 
and in the fifth, white feathers mixed with chest- 
nut and brown ; while at the next moulting he 
again became a pure white. 

A similar case lately occurred within the 
knowledge of the author. Passing by a neigh- 
bor's yard in the month of July, I observed a 



beautiful cock of the Poland variety. His color 
was red and black, beautifully combined, with 
a splendid top-knot of white feathers. Wishing 
to obtain him, I called there in January follow- 
ing, and on inquiry, he was shown to me per- 
fectly white ; I objected to him, observing to 
the owner, that it was a speckled fowl I wished 
— one which I saw there in the summer. I 
was then informed that he was the identical 
fowl, that he was the only cock which had been 
on the premises, and that when he moulted in 
the fall his color changed by degrees until every 
dark feather disappeared. 

Dickson, in his work on poultry, with regard 
to color, relates the following : " I have, at pres- 
ent, a hen of the Spanish breed, which has been 
of a uniform black for two successive moults, 
but has now her neck, wings, and tail feathers 
tipped with pure white. I have another which 
was all over a silver gray, but has now her head 
and neck coal black, with a ring of fine white 
at the base of the neck, while the rest of the 
body is finely speckled with black and snow 
white. It is remarkable, also, that this change 
took place in a few weeks, without any obvious 
moult, so as to cause her to appear any where 
bare of feathers." 

Mowbray says, "A turkey cock, which was 
black in 1821, became afterward perfectly white. 
This extraordinary change took place so gradu- 
ally that in the middle of the moulting the bird 
was beautifully mottled, the feathers being black 
and white alternately." 

MANAGEMENT. 

It is best to intrust the management of fowls 
to some trusty person, who can be depended on ; 
and no other person, except the keeper, whom 
the fowls know, and the voice and sight of 
whom rejoice them, must go into the hen-house, 
for fear of scaring or disturbing the hens busied 
in laying. 

The proper persons, or those who generally 
understand the art of rearing poultry, are fe- 
males, who, accustomed from their infancy to 
look after the poultry, arc acquainted "ith ev- 
ery particular of rearing, the different processses 
it requires, and the alterations which circum- 
stances compel to bring forward. 



36 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



It is well said by Beatson that poultry, when 
rightly managed, might he a source of great 
profit to the farmer ; but where many are kept, 
they ought not to be allowed to go at large, in 
which case little or no profit can be expected ; 
for not only many of their eggs will be lost, and 
many of themselves perhaps destroyed by ver- 
min, but at certain seasons they do much mis- 
chief both in the barn-yard and in the field. 
Poultry, it is thought, ought always to be con- 
fined ; but if so, instead of a close, dark, dimin- 
utive hovel, as is often the case, they should 
have a spacious, airy place, properly construct- 
ed for them. 



The question is often asked, "Why can not 
hens be made to lay as well in winter as in 
summer?" They can, to a certain extent; but 
they require as a condition, that they be well 
provided with warm and comfortable lodging, 
clean apartments, plenty of food, pure water, 
gravel, lime, fine sand, and ashes to roll and 
bathe in. 

There seem naturally to be two seasons of the 
year when hens lay ; early in the spring, and aft- 
erward in summer; indicating that if fowls were 
left to themselves, they would, like wild birds, 
produce two broods in a year. 

Early spring-hatched birds, if kept in a warm 
place and fed plentifully and attended to, will 
generally commence laying about Christmas, or 
even somewhat earlier. In cold and damp this 
is not to be expected, and much may, in differ- 
ent seasons, depend on the state of the weather 
and the condition of the bird. 

It is a well-known fact, that from November 
to Eebruary (the very time we are in want of 
eggs the most) they are to many a bill of ex- 
pense, without any profit. To promote fecund- 
ity and great laying in the hen, it is necessary 
that they be well fed on grain, boiled potatoes 
given to them warm, and occasionally animal 
food. In the summer, they get their supply of 
animal food in the form of worms and insects, 
when suffered to run at large; unless their 
number is so great as to consume beyond the 
supply in their roving distance. I found it ad- 
vantageous, in the summer, to open the gates 



occasionally, and give the fowls a run in the 
garden and in the held adjoining their yard, for 
a few hours in the day, when grasshoppers and 
other insects were plenty. I had two objects in 
view; one to benefit the fowls, and the other 
to destroy the insects. It will be found that 
the fecundity of the hen will be increased or 
diminished according to the supply of animal 
food furnished. 

Hens moult and cast their feathers once ev- 
ery year, generally commencing in August and 
continuing until late in November. It is the 
approach, the duration, and the consequences 
of this period, which puts a stop to their laying. 
It is a critical time for all birds. All the peri- 
od while it lasts, even to the time that the last 
feathers are replaced by new ones, till these are 
full grown, the wasting of the nutritive juices, 
prepared from the blood for the very purpose 
of promoting this growth, is considerable; and 
hence it is no wonder there should not remain 
enough in the body of the hen to cause her egg 
to grow. 

Old hens can not always be depended on for 
eggs in winter, they scarcely being in full feath- 
er before the last of December; and then, pro- 
bably, may not begin to lay till March or April, 
producing not more than twenty or thirty eggs ; 
and this is probably the cause of the disappoint- 
ment of those who have supplied themselves at 
the markets with their stock to commence with, 
and get few or no eggs. As pullets do not 
moult the first year, they commence laying be- 
fore the older hens, and by attending to the 
period of hatching, eggs may be produced dur- 
ing the year. An early brood of chickens, there- 
fore, by being carefully sheltered from the cold 
and wet, and fed once a day on boiled potatoes, 
warm, with plenty of grain, in the feeding hop- 
pers (which will be hereafter described), and oc- 
casionally a little animal food, will begin to lay 
in the fall, or early in the winter. 

"When," says Bosc, "it is wished to have 
eggs during the cold season, even in the dead 
of winter, it is necessary to make the fowls roost 
over an oven, in a stable, or to erect a stove in 
the poultry-house on purpose. By such meth- 
ods the farmers of Auge have chickens fit for 
the table in the month of April, a period when 



GENERAL VIEWS. 



37 



they are only beginning to be hatched on the 
farms around Paris, although farther to the 
south. It would be desirable to have stoves 
more common in poultry-houses near cities, 
where luxury grudges no expense for the con- 
venience of having fresh eggs. 

" Man," says Parmentier, " who thinks of 
nothing but his own interest, has attempted sev- 
eral means of arousing hens from their torpid- 
ity, when they cease at the natural period of 
the year to lay, inasmuch as it seems very hard 
to pass through the winter without the luxury 
of eating new-laid eggs." 

M. Reaumur made several experiments with 
a view to the object in question. A certain 
class of food and of seeds, he says, are much 
extolled in many places, as tending to promote 
the laying of eggs, but nothing has yet been 
determined by our choice ; for in this way the 
sum of the eggs laid by the hens of a poultry- 
yard might be distributed in a far more equa- 
ble manner over the several months of the 
year; and if, as is probable, each hen can only 
produce a certain number of eggs, we should 
be glad to have a portion of them yearly pro- 
duced in winter. The necessity we are under 
of keeping great quantities of eggs in the sea- 
son when they are laid, causes an uncommon 
quantity to be spoiled every year, from too long 
keeping or want of proper caution in preserv- 
ing them; and hence the importance of the 
question, "Whether it may not be possible to 
make hens lay in winter?" 

The method adopted by the ancients was 
ricli and stimulant food, such as toasted bread 
soaked in ale or wine, barley half sodden, tares, 
and millet. 

FECUNDITY. 

With repect to fecundity, some hens will lay 
only one egg in three days, some every other 
day, others every day, and a hen was exhibited 
at the Fair of the American Institute, at New 
York, a few years since, that was said to have 
laid two eggs in a day, and Aristotle mentions 
a breed of Ilissian hens which laid as often as 
thrice a day. 

According to our experience much depends 
on circumstances, such as climate, accommo- 



dations, feed, and the attention paid to the liens, 
as to the number of eggs annually produced. It 
is asserted by Buffon, that a hen, well fed and 
attended, will produce upwards of 150 eggs in 
a year, besides two broods of chickens. 

The act of laying is not voluntary on the part 
of the hen, but is dependent upon her age, con- 
stitution, and diet. If she be young, healthy, 
and well fed, lay she must; if she be aged and 
half starved, lay she can not. All that is left of 
her own choice is where she shall deposit her 
egg; and she is sometimes so completely taken 
by surprise, as not to have her own way even 
in that. The poultry-keeper, therefore, has 
only to decide which is the more convenient — 
that his hens should lay here and there, as it 
may happen, about his premises, or in certain 
places indicated to the hens by nest-eggs. Yet 
it is quite a mistake to suppose that the presence 
of a nest-egg causes a hen to sit earlier than 
she otherwise would. The sight of twenty nest- 
eggs will not bring on the hatching fever; and 
when it does come, the hen will take to the. 
empty nest, if there be nothing else for her to 
incubate. Such is her determined inclination 
to incubate that she will sit upon stones. Any 
one whose hens have from accident been de- 
prived of a male companion, can not be ignorant 
of the fact that they have not done so well till 
the loss has been supplied. During the inter- 
regnum matters get all wrong. The poor, deso- 
late creatures wander about dispirited, like sol- 
diers without a general. It belongs to their very 
nature to be controlled and marshaled by one 
of the stronger sex, who is kind, though a strict 
master, and a considerate though stern disciplin- 
arian. 

A writer in the Connecticut Cottrcmt says 
" a dozen hens, properly attended, will furnish 
a family with more than 2000 eggs in a year, 
and 100 chickens ;" but from our experience wc 
think this an overestimate, especially for this 
cold climate. From 80 to 100 eggs per hen a 
year would be a fair estimate for any number 
of fowls kept together. 

Wc find in statements from practical writers 
recorded in our American journals, several in- 
stances of very extraordinary products of hens, 
which will enable us to form some judgment 



38 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



on the subject ; but it must be borne in mind, 
however, that these statements have been given 
generally as extraordinary products. 

The editor of the Massachusetts Plowman 
tells us that he obtained 7200 eggs in one year 
from 83 hens — this was his highest number of 
fowls ; he sometimes had less — that for 6744 he 
received $100. The whole amount of his cash 
expenditures was $5643, leaving him a balance 
of $43 57. 

It is stated in the Farmer's Journal that from 
150 hens 1900 eggs were obtained in the month 
of January ; and that five pullets produced 300 
eggs from the middle of October to the middle 
of April, which is the coldest part of the year. 

Mr. Morent furnishes the following remarka- 
ble instance: He had three pullets of the Po- 
land variety, which were hatched in June. De- 
cember the fifteenth following, they began to lay, 
and from that time to the next December laid 
524 eggs — cost of keeping not exceeding $3 71. 
They were fed on barley, rice, and peas. 

A friend living on Staten Island, informs me 
that from 55 hens and 7 ducks he obtained in the 
month of January 182 eggs — in February, 324 
— March, 792— April, 878— May, 915— June, 
746— July, 534— August, 650— September, 346 
— October, 68 — November, 5 — December, 69 — 
making in all for the year 5509. Allowing the 
seven ducks to have laid 70 eggs each, would 
leave 5019, which, divided by 55, gives an aver- 
age of 91 eggs to each hen. These hens were 
fed from six to eight quarts of cracked corn per 
day, and occasionally boiled potatoes. Averag- 
ing the feed at seven quarts per day, we have 
within a fraction of 80 bushels of corn which, 
at fifty cents per bushel, amounts to $40 ; and 
allowing the eggs to be worth $1 50 per hun- 
dred, we have $75 78, from which deduct $40 
for food, including the ducks, and we have a 
profit of $35 78, besides 60 chickens, which, at 
20 cents each, would swell the profits up to 
$47 78. He gives the preference to the crested 
variety for eggs. 

Another friend who resided in the city of 
Troy, and kept between 30 and 40 hens, obtain- 
ed eggs from his hens throughout the, year; 
that is, there was not a single day in which he 
did not obtain some. This he accounted for 



by having very early chickens, as when the old 
hens ceased laying to moult the young pullets 
commenced. In 1842 he kept between 25 and 
30 hens, and obtained 2832 eggs. This, it will 
be seen, gives a fraction over 94 eggs to each 
hen, which is nearly double the number we ob- 
tained from our hens. 

In 1840 my hens commenced laying on the 
7th of February, and between that period and 
the 15th of August, when they commenced to 
moult, we obtained 2655 eggs from 60 hens ; 
when the year previous, from 100 hens, which 
were suffered to run at large, we did not get 
but few over 1000. In 1841 they commenced 
laying the 8th of January, and continued to lay 
until the 27th of September, when they ceased 
entirely, but commenced again on the 13th of 
October, and continued to lay until the 18th of 
November, when they ceased, and commenced 
again on the 1st of December ; and up to the 
1st of January they produced over 4000 eggs. 
In 1842 I had 71 hens, which produced within 
the year 3509 eggs. In 1843 I kept 60 hens, 
and obtained 3978 eggs. 



In order to ascertain by demonstration, and 
to satisfy myself whether the keeping of fowls 
were profitable or not, I commenced in 1842 
keeping debit and credit account with the poul- 
try-yard. I had 71 hens, 12 cocks, 2 ducks, 2 
drakes, 3 turkeys, 1 turkey cock, 5 geese, and 
2 ganders — in all 98 head. They consumed 
within the year as follows : 

91 bushels Wheat screenings, at 21 cts $19 11 

6 " Rye "5s 3 75 

11 " Millet "5s 6 62 

2 " Indian Corn "5s 1 25 

3 " Barley "4s 150 

2 " Indian Meal "8s 2 00 

10 " Small Potatoes ... "Is 1 25 

$35 48 

I obtained 3500 eggs, valued at $35 09 

Sold fowls for 2 00 

" 9 Geese 4 75 ■ 

" 5 Turkeys 1 87 

" 30 Fowls 5 63 

" 60 Ducks' eggs 83 

" 54 Goose eggs 1 62 

" 8 lbs. Goose Feathers at 5s 5 00 

From which deduct for feed 56 79 

35 48 

Net profit $21 31 



GENERAL VIEWS. 



From the foregoing it would seem that the 
profits are very small, but it must be recollected 
that the sale prices are very low, and that I had 
the misfortune to lose many of my chickens by 
hawks, and the greater part of my goslings by 
confining them in a yard, when they should 
have had the run of the pasture, which would 
have saved considerable food, and probably the 
lives of the goslings, and would have made a 
difference on the credit side. I lost many of 
my turkeys in the same way. The experience 
of this year taught me that it will not answer 
to confine in too small space either goslings or 
turkeys after they are half grown. 

In 1843 the care of the poultry was intrusted 
to my son, a lad of fifteen years, and the fol- 
lowing is his account rendered on the first of 
January, 1844. 

Poultry-yard, Dr. 

To 69 Hens, valued at $25 67 

15 Cocks 7 56 

3 Turkeys •. 1 88 

7 Geese 7 00 

1 Fancy Duck 1 00 

1 G uinea-fo wl 25 

71 bush. Wheat Screenings, at 15 cts. . . 11 25 

15 " Corn " 42 cts. . . 6 00 

31 " Oats "24cts... 7 44 

4 " Millet "50 cts. . . 2 00 

8 " Small Potatoes ..." 25 cts. .. 2 00 

32 Fowls pur-hased 15 09 

3 Turkeys purchased 113 

$88 47 

Poultry-yard, Cr. 

By 3978 Hens' eggs, at $1 per 100 $39 78 

175 Turkeys', Goose, and Ducks' eggs. . 2 56 

41 Fowls sold for 46 31 

30 do. consumed by family 7 00 

5 Geese sold 7 06 

3 do. consumed by family 2 00 

2 Turkeys do. do 1 00 " 

32 bushels Manure, sold for 6 00 

54 Hens on hand 20 25 

18 Cocks do 9 00 

6 Geese do 6 00 

1 Duck do 100 

16 Turkeys do 5 00 

2 Guinea-fowls 50 

153 46 

Deduct 88 46 

Net Profit $66 99 

It is also stated in the Report of the Wayne 
County Agricultural Society, that David Crush- 
ing keeps 25 hens, and feeds them with oats, 
corn-meal, broom-corn seed, and refuse meat, 
and supplies them with ashes, pounded shells, 



etc. They were confined to a warm and dry 
room in winter. His account is as follows : 

Poultry, £>r. 

To investment of stock and fixtures $50 00 

Interest 3 50 

Feed, 25 bushels of Oats at 20 cts 5 00 

Attendance 5 00 

$03 50 

Poultry, Cr. 

By 75 dozen Chickens, sold early at 12 cts. . . $9 38 

200 Chickens " 10 cts. . . 20 00 

Stock and fixtures on hand 50 00 

$79 38 
Leaving a net profit of $15 88 on an investment 
of fifty dollars, or an interest of more than 25 
per cent, on the capital employed. 

FOOD. 

Fowls are, of all birds, the most easy to feed. 
Every alimentary substance agrees with them, 
even when buried in manure ; nothing is lost 
to them ; they are seen the whole day long in- 
cessantly busied in scratching and picking up a 
living. 

In well-fed fowls the difference will be seen, 
not only in the size and flesh of the fowls, but 
in the weight and goodness of the eggs ; two 
of which go farther in domestic uses than three 
from hens poorly fed, or half starved. 

The finest, the most imperceptible seed can 
not escape their piercing eye. The fly that is 
most rapid in flight can not screen itself from 
the promptitude with which she darts her bill ; 
the worm that comes to breathe at the surface 
of the earth has no time to shrink from her 
glance — it is immediately secured by the head 
and drawn up. 

It is customary to throw to the fowls in a 
poultry-yard, once or twice a day, a quantity of 
grain, generally corn, and somewhat less than 
that which they would consume if they had an 
abundance. Fowls, however, are more easily sat- 
isfied than might be supposed from the greedy 
voracity which they exhibit when they arc fed 
from the hand. It is well known that, ns a 
general rule, large animals consume more than 
small ones. There is as much difference in the 
quantity of food consumed by individual fbwla 
as there is in animals. 

It has been found by careful experiments 



40 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



that the sorts of food most easily digested by 
fowls are those of which they eat the greatest 
quantity. They evidently become soonest tired 
of, and least partial to rye. 

It has also been found that there is consid- 
erable economy in feeding with wheat, corn, 
and barley, ■well hoiled, as the grain is thus in- 
creased in bulk at least one-fourth, and the same 
bulk seems to satisfy them ; but there is no sav- 
ing by boiling oats, buckwheat, or rye. 

It has been ascertained by actual experiment 
that, in the months of January and February, 
a common sized fowl will consume, when at 
command, of corn, wheat, barley or buckwheat, 
about one gill per day. I was curious to ascer- 
tain the quantity of each sort of grain which a 
given number of fowls when abundantly sup- 
plied would consume ; and for that purpose I 
confined one cock and seven hens of the Poland 
variety. The first feed I gave them was one 
peck of corn, which they consumed in eleven 
days. I then gave one peck of barley, which 
they ate in seven days. The next feed was 
the same quantity of oats, which they devour- 
ed in six days. The like quantity of millet 
lasted them eight days. The same measure 
of wheat served them ten days ; and the like 
amount of wheat screenings they devoured in 
seven days. During these trials they had no 
other food, except a few boiled potatoes. 

M. Reaumur instituted a series of experi- 
ments to ascertain the quantity of each sort of 
grain which a fowl would consume, when abund- 
antly supplied therewith during the day; and 
in the course of his experiments he discovered 
many interesting particulars of importance to 
be known to all those who keep poultry for prof- 
it. He found that individual fowls vary very 
much in the quantity of food which they con- 
sume — there being little and great eaters among 
them, most commonly indicated by the size of 
the body; that two Bantams might be kept on 
the same amount of food as one of the largest 
breed. Even among fowls of the same size and 
kind, there are individuals which require more 
food than others, a circumstance that can be 
only ascertained by trial. 

For the purpose of ascertaining the quantities 
of food consumed, M. Reaumur confined fowls 



separately under basket coops; and others in 
hutches inclosed with wooden gratings, where 
they had more convenience, even so much as to 
lay eggs there in the same way as if they had 
been at liberty. To the hens in each hutch 
he put a cock, in order that nothing might be 
wanting to the completeness of his experiments. 
In some hutches he placed as many as seven 
hens, and in others as few as two. For several 
days together, he gave both to the fowls in the 
basket coops, and to those that lived in compa- 
ny with those in the hutches, the same quan- 
tity of grain, measured so as to be more than 
would fill their crops ; and care was taken that 
the box into which the grain was put for them 
should never be empty. This box was longer 
than broad, with a bottom, and a piece of board 
on each side, projecting about five or six inch- 
es, so fixed as to prevent the chance of its being 
upset by the fowls hopping upon it, while the 
sides were sufficiently high not to allow them to 
scrape the grain out of the box — precautions in- 
dispensable to the accuracy of the experiments, 
as in this way every grain of corn could be ac- 
counted for. Gravel was also spread upon the 
bottom of the hutches and coops, and some 
was placed in a separate vessel, as being judged 
indispensable to promote digestion. 

Nearly the same measure of grain was found 
sufficient for a fowl every day, whether it con- 
sisted of oats, buckwheat, or barley ; and hence 
whichever of these three is cheapest at any time 
may be given without regard to other consid- 
erations. Variations in the appetite of the 
fowls may, perhaps, be occasioned by difference 
of seasons, and they may require rather more 
at one period than another; but it was ascer- 
tained that in the months of January and Feb- 
ruary a common barn-yard fowl, that has al- 
ways, from morning till night, grain of one of 
these three sorts at command, will eat of it dai- 
ly about a fourth part of a pint measure. This 
is even rather more than an ordinary sized fowl 
will eat, for when a quart was given to a large 
cock and Spanish hen, to two hens of a middle 
size, and to three of the ordinary size, it was 
not all eaten. Some very voracious fowls of 
the largest size, however, will consume daily 
about the third of a pint measure. 



GENERAL VIEWS. 



41 



As wheat is the most nutritive grain for hu- 
man food, with the exception of rice, it might 
be supposed that it is also the best for fowls ; 
and as they will eat wheat greedily, we might 
thence be induced to conclude that they would 
eat more of it than of barley or oats. Yet when 
fowls have as much wheat as they can consume, 
they will eat about a fourth part less than of 
oats, barley, or buckwheat; the greatest quan- 
tity of wheat eaten by a fowl in one day being 
about three sixteenths of a pint; nevertheless, 
the difference of bulk is compensated by the 
difference in weight, for these three sixteenths 
of wheat will weigh more than six tenths of 
oats. 

The difference in weight in different sorts of 
grain is not in every instance the true reason 
why a fowl is satisfied with a larger or smaller 
measure of one sort than another; for though 
rye weighs rather less than wheat, a fowl will 
be satisfied with a much "smaller measure of 
this — even, in most cases, so little as one-half. 
The seven hens and the large cock just men- 
tioned consumed daily a pint and a half meas- 
ure of wheat, while of rye they only consumed 
three-quarters of a pint measure, and hence the 
average consumption of the rye by each, was to 
their consumption of wheat in the proportion 
of one to two. 

Indian corn was found to rank intermediate 
between rye and wheat. When corn was ex- 
clusively given, the greatest eaters only con- 
sumed the first day about one-eighth of a pint 
measure, but by usage they came to relish it 
more; and the cock and seven hens, which 
were rather above the average rate of eaters, 
consumed daily one pint and a quarter of corn. 
Accordingly, five fourths of corn to them were 
equivalent to six fourths of wheat, and to three 
fourths of rye. 

The consumption of each sort of grain daily, 
by a common barn-yard fowl, will be rather too 
great, if we take the data furnished by what 
was taken by the cock and seven hens, as some 
of these were of very large size, and great cat- 
ers; though it is more convenient for the prac- 
tical purpose of estimating the expense, to be 
above rather than below the average; what is 
spent less than what one is willing to spend, 



becomes, in one sense, clear profit. We may 
therefore safely estimate that a barn-yard fowl 
of the common size, having as much as she can 
eat during the day, will consume 

Pint measure. 

Of oats, barley, or buckwheat b-32 

Of wheat 6-32 

Of corn 5 32 

Of rye 3.32 

Although, from the experiments already de- 
tailed, as made with wheat and rye, it appears 
that the average consumption is not always in 
proportion to the specified weight of the corn, 
yet it is of importance to know the relative 
weights of each grain in all such experiments. 
M. Reaumur, in order to ascertain the differ- 
ence of weight of each in different circumstan- 
ces, carefully weighed a pint measure of each ; 
when he found the weights to be the follow- 
ing: 

Ol. Dr. Gr. 

"Wheat 19 1 52 

Rye ]8 4 12 

Corn 17 5 48 

Buckwheat 10 7 12 

Barley 14 48 

Oats 10 3 12 

BOILED GRAINS. 

It is the custom of poultry-keepers in France 
to cook the grain given to fowls which they in- 
tend to fatten, boiling it in water till it is soft 
enough to be easily bruised between the fingers, 
the boiling causing it to swell till the farina 
splits the enveloping membrane, and this they 
term bursting. Although it is the popular opin- 
ion that burst grain is better than when it is dry, 
for fattening poultry, this opinion has probably 
not been established on accurate experiments. 
Be this as it may, it is of no less importance to 
ascertain whether there is any difference of ex- 
pense in feeding poultry on raw or on burst 
grain; that is, whether, under similar circum- 
stances, fowls eat more or less of the one or of 
the other. 

In order to ascertain this, we had two quarts 
of corn soaked and boiled till well burst, and 
found that the increase in bulk was OTer four 
quarts. 

Two quarts of rice swelled considerably more 
by boiling than corn. Two quarts of barley, after 
being boiled to bursting, increased in bulk to 



42 



THE AMEKICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



five quarts. Two quarts of buckwheat, after 
boiling, increased to seven quarts. 

For the purpose of ascertaining whether boil- 
ing altered the preference of fowls for any of 
the particular sorts, we varied the experiments 
in every way. The fowls were furnished with 
two, three, and four different sorts, sometimes 
all the compartments of the feeding-box being 
filled with boiled grain, each different from the 
other, and sometimes each sort of grain filled 
two of the compartments, one of them having 
nothing but boiled and another nothing but dry 
or raw grain. All that could be collected from 
these repeated experiments was, that the great- 
er number of fowls preferred boiled grain to raw, 
though there were many of them which preferred 
the raw grain on certain days, and no permanen- 
cy could be discovered in the preference shown 
for any sort of boiled grain. Some fowls, for ex- 
ample, which one day preferred boiled wheat, 
would on other days make choice of corn, 
buckwheat, or barley. Rye, either boiled or 
raw, is the least liked by fowls, of any sort of 
grain. It would seem from such experiments 
that we may make choice of the sorts of grain 
which happen to be cheapest, without much or 
any disadvantage ; always excepting rye, when 
other sorts are to be had at reasonable prices. 

Oats, although increased in bulk by boiling 
nearly one-half, are not, any more than rye, 
rendered more sufficing; for the fowls which 
in two days would have eaten two quarts of raw 
oats, consumed in the same time three and a 
half quarts of the boiled grain — consequently it 
is no saving to boil the oats. Mowbray says 
oats are apt to produce scour, and chickens 
become tired of them ; but they are recommend- 
ed by many to promote laying, and by some 
for fattening. 

Buckwheat is increased in bulk, by boiling, 
more than any other grain, as twa quarts, when 
well boiled, swelled to seven ; yet it is no ben- 
efit to boil buckwheat ; for the fowls consumed 
the seven quarts of the boiled grain nearly in 
the same time which two quarts of the raw grain 
would have sufficed them. Many have the im- 
pression that it is rather an unsubstantial food. 
Corn is, on the other hand, more profitable 
when boiled than when given raw ; for the fowls 



which would have consumed two quarts of the 
uncooked or raw corn, consumed only three 
quarts of the boiled grain, which are not equiv- 
alent to three pints of raw. Even calculating 
that they were to consume three quarts a day 
of the boiled grain, there would be a saving of 
more than one-fourth. In very cold weather it 
should be fed to the fowls hot, and the water 
in which it was boiled may be given them to 
drink. 

Barley is also much more economical when 
boiled than raw; for fowls which would have 
eaten two quarts of raw barley a da)', ate three 
quarts of boiled grain. Therefore, as five quarts 
of boiled barley are produced from two quarts 
of raw, three pints are equivalent to no more 
than six-fifths of a pint of the raw; conse- 
quently, the expense in raw barley is to that 
of boiled as ten-fifths to six-fifths, that is, as ten 
to six, showing a saving of two-fifths by giving 
boiled instead of raw barley. 

Wheat will increase in bulk by boiling about 
the same as barley; but experiments prove that 
the saving to be obtained by feeding fowls with 
boiled wheat is not nearly so much as might 
thence have been anticipated ; for the same 
fowls which consumed one and a half quarts 
of boiled barley in one day, ate the same quan- 
tity of boiled wheat. Three pints of boiled 
wheat, however, are not equivalent to two pints 
of raw wheat, as in the case of the barley, but 
only one pint and a half of raw wheat, which 
was found to be the quantity consumed in one 
day by the same fowls. Now, as one pint of 
boiled wheat is equivalent to no more than two- 
fifths of a pint of the raw grain, the three pints 
consumed a day are only six-fifths of raw wheat. 
Consequently, the proportion of what they con- 
sumed of raw wheat was, to what they ate of 
boiled, as fifteen-tenths to twelve-tenths, or as 
five to four ; hence there is a saving of one-fifth 
by feeding with boiled wheat, as there is of two- 
fifths by feeding with boiled barley. 

These experiments proved most clearly that 
in every case where the price of corn, barley, 
or wheat renders it eligible to feed fowls there- 
with, there is considerable economy in never 
giving the grain raw, but well boiled ; and there 
is no saving by boiling oats, buckwheat, or rye. 



GENERAL VIEWS. 



Millet. — Fowls prefer raw millet to that which 
has been boiled, though it would evidently be a 
saving in other respects to boil it, as boiling in- 
creases its bulk above one-half. We have found 
millet excellent food for young chickens. 

Rice. — Boiled rice might be supposed to be a 
very nourishing food for poultry, though it is 
too expensive for daily feeding, and they are 
at first very fond of it; yet their liking for rice 
does not continue, and in a week or two they 
come to dislike it. One reason may be that it is 
too clogging ; and were it mixed with some less 
nourishing substance, such as bran, the fowls 
would continue to relish it just as well as they 
do barley. 

Potatoes. — As potatoes contain a great pro- 
portion of nutriment comparatively to their bulk 
and price, they constitute one of the most eco- 
nomical articles upon which poultry can be fed. 
The poultry-keepers in England consider po- 
tatoes excellent for promoting laying in fowls ; 
while M. Parmentier advises that they should 
only be given for the purpose of fattening, since 
he thinks they will render the fowls so fat as to 
hinder them from laying. 

Potatoes are, according to our experience, a 
cheap, wholesome, and nutritious food for fowls, 
though it would require experiments similar to 
those already detailed with respect to grain to 
ascertain the quantity which each fowl would 
consume when potatoes are supplied with over- 
abundance. If fed alone, without grain, they 
are very apt to make them scour. 

And we have found it indispensable not only to 
feed them in a boiled state, but hot ; not too hot, 
however, as they are so stupid as to burn their 
mouths, if permitted. It is likewise necessary 
to break or mash them a little, for they will not 
unfrequently leave a potato when thrown down 
unbroken ; taking it, probably, for a stone, since 
the moment the skin is broken, and the white 
of the interior is brought into view, they will 
pounce upon it greedily. 

Fowls are not fond of raw potatoes, beets, 
carrots, or parsnips, though they relish carrots 
when cut into very small pieces, and mixed 
with corn meal or wheat middlings. Boiled 
vegetables, mashed with bran or meal of any 
kind, are excellent food for poultry, and answer 



well for their evening meal, when grain has 
been given them in the morning. 

Green Food. — From seeing fowls when at lib- 
erty devour plants and leaves, it is generally 
supposed that they will eat any thing that is 
green; but such is not the case, as I have 
found by experiment. Among the plants which 
they reject, are the leaves of strawberries, celery, 
parsnips, carrots, and potatoes. They are more 
partial to the leaves of lettuce, endive, spin- 
ach, cabbage, and chick-weed. They also eat 
grass, purslain, pig-weed ; and M. Eeaumur says, 
" that if hens have a green plot to go a-grazing 
in from morning till night, which they are nat- 
urally inclined to do, and which they will be nat- 
urally compelled to do if they are sparingly fed 
on grain, the expense of keeping them will not 
be half what it would be if they were furnished 
with as much boiled barley as they choose to 
eat." 

Poultry, however, are none the better for be- 
ing fed entirely on raw greens, as it is very apt 
to relax and scour them, and cabbage and spin- 
ach are still more relaxing to them when boil- 
ed than raw. M. Parmentier recommends, and 
this accords with our own experience, giving 
them all the refuse of the kitchen, such as bits 
of spoiled fruit, parings of apples, and the like ; 
but I have found that my fowls are not fond of 
the latter. 

The left pieces and crumbs of bread, pie-crust, 
fragments of pudding and dumplings, all fowls 
are fond of. There can be little doubt but that 
biscuit-dust from ship-stores, which consists of 
biscuits mouldered into meal, mixed with frag- 
ments still unbroken, would be excellent food 
for poultry, if soaked in boiling water, and given 
them hot. It can sometimes be had in large 
sea-ports, and at a very reasonable price. It 
will be no detriment to this material though it 
be full of weevils and their grubs, of which fowls 
are fonder than of the biscuit itself. 

Butchers' -meat, Fowl, and Fish. — A fowl ap- 
pears to be delighted when, after having scratch- 
ed up the ground, she discovers an earth-worm, 
on which she docs not fail to pounce n iih avid- 
ity; and from the ravenous voracity with which 
they pounce upon any scrap of meat they dis- 
cover, we might suppose that they are more 



44: 



THE AMEEICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



carnivorous than granivorous. This, however, is 
only observed from the meat being an occasional 
tit-bit. Were they fed entirely on meat, with- 
out any grain, for some time, they would man- 
ifest the same voracity for the latter. But it is 
well to take advantage of this omnivorous pro- 
pensity to make use of every scrap of meat and 
offal which would otherwise be lost, as such must 
always assist in saving the quantity of corn which 
they would otherwise require. Fish is no less 
wholesome to them than flesh, and they are as 
fond of it salted as fresh. 

It seems to make but little difference with 
them whether any sort of animal food is raw 
or boiled, though perhaps what is raw is more 
highly relished ; at least they are fond of blood, 
which they will sip up from the ground where 
it has been shed till not a drop remains. 

Pieces of suet or fat they like better than any 
other sort of animal food; but this, if supplied 
in any quantity, will soon render them too fat 
for continuing to lay. 

There is no sort of insect, perhaps, which 
fowls will not eat. They are exceedingly fond 
of flies, beetles, grasshoppers, crickets, and every 
sort of grub and maggot. We found it quite 
advantageous in the summer to open our gates 
occasionally, and give the fowls a run in the 
garden or surrounding field an hour or so, in 
the afternoon, when insects and grasshoppers 
are plenty. 

A writer in the New England Farmer says, "I 
keep my hens warm under cover during the 
winter, and feed them on brewers' grains, which 
are placed in an open box or tub, that they may 
eat when they please, occasionally giving them 



oats, corn, and oyster-shells, pounded fine, and 
plenty of water. By keeping them well fed and 
warm, they began laying earlier in the season." 

Mr. Stimson, of Galway, a few years since, 
connected the business of rearing poultry with 
the useful purpose of protecting his garden from 
the depredations of the numerous tribes of in- 
sects which so frequently render abortive the 
best exertions of the gardener. His method is 
simply this : a sufficient number of coops are 
constructed, and are placed in different parts 
of the garden, and the hens with their different 
broods are put into these coops ; the chickens, 
finding no restraint on their freedom, roam over 
the garden, and devour every fly, bug, or insect 
which falls in their way. There is one objec- 
tion, however, to this, which we found by expe- 
rience, and that is, if left in the garden too long, 
they become so attached that it is difficult to 
keep them out when grown up. We would, 
therefore, recommend moving them to the poul- 
try-yard as soon as they get in feather. 

The existence of fowls would be of short du- 
ration were they confined strictly to any one 
single kind of food, however excellent of its 
kind; this would necessarily imply a state of 
confinement for the experiment. Many arti- 
cles more useful for a change, would, if given 
continuously, prove highly injurious, such as 
corn or animal food, while others, such as bar- 
ley, or buckwheat, harmless in themselves, would 
either be refused, or else if taken, disorder the 
natural functions of the body. Grain of the 
different kinds seems to form the main articles 
of food for poultry, but, like bipeds of a larger 
growth, they like variety. 



POULTRY-HOUSES. 




VIEW OF QTJEEN VICTORIA S POULTRY-MOUSE. 



CHAPTER II. 

POULTRY-HOUSES. 



"Every householder," said the late A. J. 
Downing, "knows the value of good fresh eggs, 
and an abundance of good fat poultry, the year 
round. But few know how to obtain them with- 
out having them cost twice as much as they are 
worth. A hen is much like a fire-brand — a 
very fine thing in the right place. Like the 
harpies of old, they are sure to defile all they 
do not destroy. But with proper conveniences 
for managing them, they are among the most 
agreeable, profitable, and useful objects in coun- 
try life. To children especially, fowls are ob- 
jects of exceeding interest, and form an almost 
necessary part of the means of developing the 
moral and industrial energies of a country house- 
hold. See that little fellow toppling along with 
his cap full of eggs for 'Mamma,' or patting his 
favorite chicken on its back. There is a whole 



' California' in the little fellow's heart — show- 
ing out through his eyes, and evinced in even- 
motion of his little body. He who will educate 
a boy in the country without a 'chicken,' is al- 
ready a semi-barbarian ; and he who leaves his 
chickens to make a hen-roost of all things sa- 
cred and profane, visible and invisible, is still 
worse; to say nothing of the good housewife's 
flower-patch in the garden, the very mention of 
which excites no small fear of a shower of oven- 
brooms and brickbats, while the whole welkin 
rings again with the discordant 'shew-there 1* 
' shew-there !' " 

Whether fowls are suffered to run at large, 
or are confined, there should always be a poul- 
try-house and yard where they can be regularly 
fed. Previous, therefore, to getting a slock r\~ 
poultry, a place should be provided for them. 



46 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



In selecting a proper situation for this purpose, 
it will be necessary to have it, if possible, on 
the south side of some building, or the south or 
southeast side of a hill or bank, so that one 
side of the wall may be set against the hill, and 
if of stone, to be laid in mortar, which will add 
very much to the warmth of the room. "We 
would suggest, too, as an object of economy, 
when building the wall, to leave holes or recess- 
es in them fifteen inches square, in which shal- 
low boxes or drawers may be placed for nests. 
The sedrawers can be removed when necessa- 
ry, and cleaned or freed from vermin. If the 
buildings are of wood, they should be filled in 
with brick, or lathed and plastered. , 

The confinement of fowls will be found a 
most necessary arrangement, as on many occa- 
sions it is highly requisite they should be con- 
fined, as at planting time, or at some other pe- 
riods, when they are particularly troublesome. 
Close confinement in a room or shed would in- 
terrupt their laying, and make them sick, but 
a yard on the plan we are about to describe 
would answer every purpose, and be often found 
very advantageous in securing the eggs of such 
fowls as had contracted a habit of laying away, 
and hazarding the loss of eggs. 

It is well known that cold benumbs fowls, 
retards and diminishes their laying; that the 
want of good water gives them the pip, costive- 
ness, and other inflammatory diseases ; in fine, 
an infectious atmosphere causes them to droop, 
whence it naturally follows that their fecundity 
is less, that the flesh is not of so good a quality, 
and that the rearing of them is difficult. Un- 
der such circumstances one may judge how im- 
portant it is for the improvement of poultry that 
it should always be wholesomely, comfortably, 
and cleanly housed. 

Dickson says, "In order to unite all the ad- 
vantages desirable in a poultry-yard, it is in- 
dispensable that it be neither too cold during 
winter, nor too hot during summer; and it must 
be rendered so attractive to the hens as to pre- 
vent their laying in any chance place away from 
it. The extent of the place should be propor- 
tional to the number of fowls kept, but it will 
be better too small than too large, particularly 
in winter, for the mutual imparting of electric- 



ity and animal heat. There is no fear of engen- 
dering infectious diseases by too much crowding; 
and it is found, in fact, that where fowls are 
kept apart they are much less prolific." 

The driest and warmest soils are best adapted 
to the successful rearing and breeding domestic 
fowls, especially chickens; and to be attended 
with the greatest success and least trouble, some 
expense and great precaution will be required. 
Fowls endure extreme cold much better than 
moisture. To unite all the advantages desirable 
in a poultry-yard, it should neither be wet nor 
exposed to cold winds. There should, if pos- 
sible, be running water in the yard, and under 
cover should be placed ashes and dry sand, where 
they may indulge in their natural propensity 
of rolling and basking or bathing themselves. 
Gravel, broken shells, crushed bones, and old 
lime mortar, should always be placed within 
their reach. 

From our own experience we are satisfied 
that the same house ought to be kept exclusive- 
ly for barn-yard fowls ; for though they will not 
be very dissociable with others through the day, 
they do not like to sleep under the same roof 
with different species from themselves. Tur- 
keys, in particular, are very quarelsome, and 
will not suffer other fowls to come near them. 
Geese, too, are troublesome at the feeding hop- 
pers, by keeping the fowls away till they have 
satisfied their hunger; ducks soil or contami- 
nate the water, but are less troublesome than 
turkeys or geese. 

Having settled all preliminaries, we will now 
give a number of plans, some of which would 
be rather expensive, and intended more partic- 
ularly for the wealthy or fancy farmer ; while 
others would be more simple and unpretending, 
and for utility rather than show, and could be 
erected at a very trifling expense, and within the 
reach of every one. In thus presenting our read- 
er with a great variety of plans, we leave him to 
adopt such of them as may appear most suit- 
able to his individual case. If we had adopt- 
ed a different mode of proceeding, viz., that of 
generalizing the plans of others and giving the 
result of our own, our work. would necessarily 
have exhibited our own opinion only, whereas 
the former mode exhibits all the more valuable 



POULTRY-HOUSES. 



plans which have been published. The young 
reader or novice is thus induced to think and 
plan for himself, and to refer his opinions and 
practice to fundamental principles ; while the 
experienced practitioner may adopt the designs 
of those which suit him best. 

We will therefore commence by giving some 
of the European plans, and add several plans 
adopted in our own country, which differ from 
the foreign in some respects very materially, 
and which will probably be found as well, if not 
better, calculated for our purposes than either 
of them ; and by having a description of the 
different kinds a choice can be made, or one 
constructed by taking parts of either and com- 
bining the advantages of the whole. 

QUEEN VICTORIA'S POULTRY-HOUSE. 

[See engraving on page 45.] 
"In a secluded wood on the boundaries of 
the Home Park, stands the Home Farm, or the 
farm attached to Windsor Castle — the private 
farm of her Majesty. In this establishment, 
which was founded by George III., are situated 
the royal fowl-house and poultry-yards, but of 
which, notwithstanding their great interest, the 
public know nothing, save the mere fact of their 
existence. Here, her Majesty, retiring from 
the fatigues of state, finds a grateful relief in 
the simple pursuits of a country life. In culti- 
vating the homely recreations of a farm, her 
Majesty has exhibited great industry and much 
good taste. The buildings and farm routine 
which sufficed for the clumsy management of 
1793, have been discovered by Her Majesty to 
be totally unsuited to the more enlightened 
system of 1843, and hence, under the direction 
of Her Majesty and Prince Albert, and others, 
an entire reorganization of the establishment 
has been determined, and is now in progress. 

"The fowl-house lately built at Windsor is 
a semi-gothic building, of simple and appropri- 
ate beauty. It consists of a central pavilion, 
used for inspecting the fowls, crowned on the 
top by an elegant dove-cot, and on the sides, of 
wings capable of symmetric extension, in which 
are placed the model roosting-houses, and lay- 
ing and breeding nests of the fowls. The ground, 
in front, slopes toward the Park, and is inclosed 



and divided by light wire fences into separate 
wards, for the 'run,' or daily exercise of the 
birds. Inside these wards, gravel walks, bor- 
dered by grass plots, lead to the entrances of 
the fowl-houses. In the proportions, distribu- 
tions, and fittings of the apartments of this 
house, considerable knowledge of the habits, 
with a corresponding and most commendable 
regard to the conveniences of their granivo- 
rous tenants, has been displayed ; the chambers 
are spacious, airy, and of an equal and rather 
warm temperature, which accords with their 
original habits, and their nests are made as far 
as possible to resemble the dark bramble-cov- 
ered recesses of their original jungles. In this 
particular her Majesty has set a good example 
to the farmers, who too often follow the false 
routine of their fathers, rather than consult the 
habits and obey the natural instincts of the ani- 
mals about them." — London Pictorial Times. 

LORD PENRYN'S POULTRT-HOUSE. 

This establishment is described by Dickson as 
follows : "The most magnificent poultry-place 
perhaps that has ever been built, is at Lord 
Penryn's, at Winnington, in Cheshire. It con- 
sists of a handsome elegant front, extending 140 
feet; at each extremity of which is a neat pavil- 
ion, with a large arched window. These pavil- 
ions are united to the centre of the design by a 
colonnade of several cast-iron pillars painted 
white, which support a cornice, and a slate roof, 
covering a paved walk, and a variety of different 
conveniences for the poultry, for keeping eggs, 
corn, and the like. The doors into these are 
of lattice-work, also painted white, and the fram- 
ing green. In the middle of the front are four 
handsome stone columns, and four pilasters, 
supporting likewise a cornice and a slate roof, 
under which and between the columns is a 
beautiful Mosaic iron gate; on one side of this 
gate is an elegant little parlor, beautifully pa- 
pered and furnished ; and at the other end of 
the colonnade a very neat kitchen, so exces- 
sively clean, and in such high order, that it is 
delightful to view it. This front is the diame- 
ter or chord of a large semicircular court be- 
hind, round which there is also a colonnade, 
and a great variety of conveniences for the 



48 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



poultry. This court is neatly paved, and a 
circular pond and pump in the middle of it. 
The whole fronts toward a rich little field, or 
paddock, called the poultry-paddock, in which 
the poultry have liberty to walk about between 
meals. At one o'clock the bell rings, and the 
beautiful gate in the centre is opened. The 
poultry being then mostly walking in the pad- 
dock, and knowing by the sound of the bell that 
their repast is ready for them, fly and run from 
all quarters, and rush in at the gate, every one 
striving which can get the first share in the 
scramble. There are about 600 poultry of dif- 
ferent kinds in the place; and although so large 
a number, the semicircular court is kept so nice 
and clean, that not a speck of dung is to be seen. 

" This poultry-place is built of brick, except- 
ing the pillars and cornices, and the lintels and 
jambs of the doors and windows ; but the bricks 
are not seen, being all covered with a remark- 
ably fine kind of slate from his Lordship's es- 
tate in Wales. These slate are closely jointed 
and fastened with screw-nails, on small spars 
fixed to the brick ; they are afterward painted, 
and fine white sand thrown on while the paint 
is wet, which gives the whole the appearance of 
the beautiful freestone." 

This sort of cleanliness, with as free a circula- 
tion as possible, and a proper space for the fowls 
to run in, is essential to the rearing of this sort 
of stock with the greatest advantage and suc- 
cess, as in narrow and confined situations they 
are never found to answer well. 

mowbray's poultry-house. 

" Whether or not the poultry be suffered to 
range at large," says Mowbray, "and particu- 
larly to take the benefit of the farm-yard, a sep- 
arate and well-fenced yard or court must be 
pitched upon. Upon farms the poultry-yard 
may be small, as the poultry should be allowed 
to range over the premises, to pick up what can 
not be got at by the swine. The surface must 
be so sloped and drained as to avoid all stag- 
nant moisture, most destructive to chickens. 
The fences must be lofty and well secured at 
the bottom, that the smallest chicken can not 
find a passage through, and the whole yard per- 
fectly sheltered, from the northwest to the south- 



east. It should be supplied with some effete 
lime and sifted ashes, or very dry sand, in 
which the fowls may exercise the propensity, 
so delightful and salutary to them, of rolling 
and basking themselves. This is effectual in 
cleansing their feathers and skin from vermin 
and impurities, promotes the cuticular excre- 
tion, and is materially instrumental in preserv- 
ing their health." 

If the number of stock be considerable, the 
houses had far better be small and detached, 
in order to secure safety; and especially, they 
should be absolutely impenetrable to vermin 
of any description. Should these houses abut 
upon a stable, brew-house, or any conductor of 
warmth, it will be so much more comfortable 
and salutary to the poultry. 

The elevation should be a simple style, and, 
for health's sake, the roof should be lofty ; the 
perches will be more out of the reach of vermin, 
should they break in ; and there should be only 
one long and level range of perches, because, 
when they are placed one above another, the 
fowls dung upon each other; convenient steps 
driven into the walls, will render easy the as- 
cent of the poultry to their perches ; or they 
may be made as here shown, in which a, b are 




TIIANSYKKSE SECTION. 



spars for the poultry to sit on ; c, c are ranges 
of boxes for the nests ; d the roof, and e the 
door, which should be nearly as high as the ceil- 
ing, for ventilation, and should have a small 
opening, with a shutter at bottom, to permit the 
poultry to go in and out at pleasure. The 
spars on which the birds are to roost should 
not be round and smooth, but roundish and 
rouahish like the branches of a tree. 



P0ULT11Y-H0USES. 



il 



SCOTCH POULTRY-HOUSE. 

In a paper published in the " Transactions of 
the Highland Society of Scotland," for 1833, Mr. 
England, of Aberdeen, gives a plan of a poultry- 
house and yard, which appears to be very com- 
plete of its kind, though he differs from 
most of the authorities in rminy points 
of management. The house is divid- 
ed into separate wards, each ward fit- 
ted up to lodge twenty-four hens and 
one cock, with a yard attached, about 
fifteen feet long, by ten broad. 

The following is a ground plan of 
two such wards, with their yards and 
houses ; a, a, a, three of the nests out 
of the twenty-four in each house ; 0, a 



ladder by which the fowls go up to the nests ; c, 

c, c, three roosts, holding about two dozen fowls ; 

d, platform, to allow the fowls to pass in front 
of the nests. 

The manner in which the nests, the roosting 
perches, the ladders for the fowls to go up by, 





1) 



i;i'.oiwn plan. 



and the platform to allow them to pass in front 
of the nests, are arranged, will be best under- 
stood from the above figures. 

The poultry-house within the j r ard, if there 
be a choice, should have a southern aspect, de- 
fended from cold winds and the blowing in of 
rain or sleet. 

Mr. England also provides what he calls a 
storm house, for the fowls to run for shelter in 
bad weather. 

It need scarcely be remarked, that the larger 
the inclosure the better; for, although it has 
been so much practiced in Erance, and so ur- 
gently recommended by French writers, we are 
no advocate for too strict confinement, unless it 
be from rain or damp. When the state of the 
fields can not render it injurious, they should 
at least occasionally be given liberty to roam at 
large. At the roots of hedges and shrubs they 
will grub up many a hearty meal, and the pub- 
lic roads will furnish them with a more grateful 
rolling-bed than all the artificial mounds and 
hollows of brick-dust, sand, and ashes, which 
can be laid down in the poultry-yard. 

In the foregoing we have given several de- 
scriptions of foreign poultry establishments ; we 
will now give some American oiks, among 
which will be found some of our own plans, as 
well as those of others. If there is nothing 
original in them, they are none the less useful. 



4£ 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 




OCTAGON POULTKY-IIOUSE. 



The above figure represents the elevation of a 
neat, pretty, and convenient poultry-house late- 
ly erected near Eactoryville, Staten Island. It 
is designed to accommodate from twenty-five to 
thirty common-sized fowls. The octagon form 
was preferred on account of economy, as it takes 
less materials and labor to inclose a given num- 
ber of feet in an octagon than in a square or 
oblong form. It is more ornamental too. The 
object for placing it on piles was to prevent the 
encroachments of rats, mice, and other vermin, 
such as skunks, minks, and weazels. Rats are 
particularly annoying, as they not only devour 
the grain, but suck the eggs and kill the young 
chickens. Where fowls were fed in a trough, 
we have known them to contend with and even 
drive the fowls from their food. 

This building is ten feet in diameter and six 
feet and a half high. The sills are 4 by 4, and 
the plates 3 by 4 joists, halved and nailed at the 
joints. It is sided with inch and a quarter spruce 
plank, tongued and grooved. No upright tim- 
bers were used. The floor and roofing are of 
the same kind of plank. To guard against leak- 
age by shrinking, the joints may be battened 



with lath or other strips of thin boards. An 
eight-square frame supports the top of the raft- 
ers, leaving an opening of ten inches in diame- 
ter, on which is placed an octagon chimney for 
a ventilator, which makes a very pretty finish. 
The piers should be either cedar, chestnut, or 
locust, two feet high, and set on flat stones. 
The letter D designates the door ; W, W, win- 




GEOtJND PLAN. 

dows ; L, latticed window to admit air, with a 
shutter to exclude it when necessary; E, en- 
trance for the fowls with a sliding door ; P, plat- 
form for the fowls to alight on when going in ; 
R, R are roosts placed spirally, one end attach- 
ed to a post near the centre of the room, and 
the other end to the wall ; the first or lower- 
most one two feet from the floor, and the oth- 
ers eighteen inches apart, and rising gradually 
to the top, six feet from the floor. These roosts 
will accomodate forty ordinary-sized fowls. E, 
F is a board floor, on an angle of about forty- 
five degrees, to catch and carry down the drop- 
pings of the fowls. This arrangement renders 
it much more convenient in cleaning out the 
manure, which should be frequently done. 

The space beneath this floor is appropriated 
to nests, twelve in number, fifteen inches wide, 
eighteen inches deep, and eighteen inches high. 
In order to give an appearance of secretiveness, 
which it is well known the hen is so partial to, 
the front is latticed with strips of latb. By 
this arrangement a free circulation of air is ad- 
mitted, which adds much to the comfort of the 
hens while sitting. 



POULTRY-HOUSES. 




OUE OWN POULTEY-IIOtSE. 



The above figure represents the front and ele- 
vation of rather an extensive and costly estab- 
lishment, but would be very convenient, and 
add somewhat in embellishing the premises of 
the homestead. The end buildings are intend- 
ed for laying, hatching, and roosting apartments. 
The cupolas on the tops are finished with blinds 
for the purpose of ventilation as well as orna- 
ment. On the bottom of each cupola, and in- 
side of the building, should be a door, hung on 
hinges, with a cord attached, passing through a 
pulley so that it can be closed or opened at pleas- 
ure, to ventilate when necessary. In the ga- 
bles, if facing the south, as they always should, 
dove-cots may be formed, as shown in the en- 
graving. 

The long building with windows in front, con- 
necting the two extreme ones, is intended for a 



storm-house, chicken saloon, or walk, for exer- 
cise in cold weather, as well as a retreat from 
storms, and for feeding, basking, etc. ; being 
made warm by filling in with brick, or lathed 
and plastered, and the roof should be thatched 
with straw. The front should be ten feet high, 
roof sloping to the north. The windows are 
intended to admit heat in winter as well as light. 
If only for a storm-house, the windows may be 
omitted, and the front finished in the form of a 
shed. Boxes for nests may also be placed there 
for laving and hatching. By partitioning it oft" 
two varieties of fowls may be kept separate ; so 
that one side may be appropriated for turkeys, 
guinea-hens, etc. Doors in each should open 
into the yards, which should be of considerable 
size, at least half an acre for every fifty fowls, 
as room and space in the open air is necessary for 



52 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



their health when they are not permitted the 
range of the barn-yard. The yard should, if 
possible, be a little sloping, that it may be dry, 
as moisture is a most destructive enemy to poul- 
try. It should be inclosed by a fence at least 
seven feet high, with long, sharp pickets, and 
the timbers on which the pickets are nailed, un- 
less some distance below the top, should be on 
the outside, to prevent the fowls perching on 
them, as they seldom attempt to fly over a fence 
without alighting. When first confined, if they 
have been used to roam over the premises, they 
will show some impatience, which soon wears 
away, if every thing else is made agreeable to 
them. It may, however, be necessary to clip 
the wings of some of them, when first intro- 
duced, particularly if taken from the barn-yard, 
where they have always had their liberty. 

The buildings at the ends should be thirteen 
feet square, and thirteen feet posts. We name 
this size, as there would be no waste of timber, 
being just the length of the boards. If not too 
near the dwelling-house, so that there would be 
danger of fire from sparks, we would recom- 
mend to have the roof thatched with straw, be- 
ing much cooler in summer, and warmer in the 
winter, and when well done, it forms a light and 
durable roof, and will last for twenty years. It 
should, however, be made very sloping, ' that it 
may carry off the water the more readily. A 
door, ten by fourteen inches, should be made in 
each department, three feet from the ground, for 
the fowls to pass in and out, and to confine them 
when necessary. There should be no floor in 
the first story to prevent the fowls from com- 
ing to the earth ; and the litter should be often 
removed, and the bottom sprinkled with effete 
lime or old mortar, at least once in each week. 

In the second story there should be a tight 
floor under the roosts to catch the droppings of 
the fowls, by which means the apartments will 
be kept much cleaner, and the manure may be 
gathered, which, with the exception of pigeon's 
dung, is said to be the strongest of all animal 
excrements — it is home-made Guano. This 
will add a considerable item to the profits of 
keeping fowls that has heretofore been entirely 
overlooked. 

The roosts should commence on one side, at 



the top, near the plate, and slope downward, 
at an angle of about forty-five degrees, like a 
ladder, to within eighteen inches of the floor. 
The spars for the roosts should be about three 
inches square, with the corners taken off, and 
placed eighteen inches apart horizontally, for 
fowls, and at least two feet for turkeys, so that 
they may not incommode one another by their 
droppings. No flying will be necessary in this 
form of a roost, as the birds ascend and descend 
by steps. This arrangement is well adapted to 
the Asiatic fowls, such as Cochin Chinas, Brah- 
mas, etc. 

The lower story is designed for the laying 
and hatching department. When we first erect- 
ed our poultry-house we tried ranges of boxes, 
similar to those usually made for pigeons, placed 
against the walls for nests, but experience, the 
best of teachers, proved it was erroneous, espe- 
cially when hatching ; for when the sitting hen 
left her nest to procure her food, drink, etc., one 
of the other hens Avould espy the eggs, and pop 
in and lay her egg there. In the mean time 
the hatching hen would return, and finding her 
nest occupied, and it being no easy matter to 
eject the intruder, as possession, with hens as 
with men, is considered nine points of law, she 
would seek the first nest she could find with 
eggs, and settle herself there very contentedly. 
The consequence was, the other hen, after de- 
positing her egg, would leave the nest, and the 
eggs would cool and spoil. There is another 
difficulty. If vermin should make their ap- 
pearance, there is no way of getting at them or 
cleaning the nests. To remedy this, we would 
recommend the insertion of shallow drawers in 
the niches, as adopted by a friend on Staten 
Island. When they become foul and require 
cleaning they can be easily removed. 

The size and shape of the yard may be made 
to suit the convenience and taste of the owner, 
but from our experience, the larger the better. 
A hedge of lilac, or any other sort of shrubs 
within the fence, or what are better, small ever- 
green trees, with the branches left as near the 
ground as possible, will be found very accepta- 
ble to the poultry, where they will retire for 
shelter from the heat of the sun, and protection 
from the hovering hawk. 



POULTRY-HOUSES. 



3i-'- iJSW a -ill B «», rfegr- 1 .' 

-III 




ORNAMENTAL RUSTIC POULTr.Y-IIOrSE. 



The above eleA r ation and front view of a poul- 
try-house we borrow from L. F. Allen's " Ru- 
ral Architecture." 

This design is of the rustic order, and may 
be erected either plain or ornamental, at a less 
or greater price, at the option of the owner. 
The proportions are as follows : Length 20 feet, 
breadth 16, and height 10 feet. The posts are 
set in the ground — " for we do not like floors of 
wood," says Mr. Allen, "because rats are apt 
to burrow under them, and are the worst pests 
of the poultry-house" — and boarded up, either 
inside or outside, but not double. Plates con- 
nect the posts firmly together, and support the 
rafters as usual. The chamber floor is 9 feet 
above the ground, and maybe used for nests or 
as a store room for their feed. The roof projects 
boldly, as a shelter to the walks, and through 
the centre of it is an ornamented ventilator. 
The windows are represented with diamond 



panes; common sash would be more suit- 
able; the front windows are large, to attract 
the warmth of the winter sun. A section of 
picket fence is shown, also trees in the rear — 
both of which are necessary to a complete estab- 
lishment; the former, to secure the poultry in 
the contiguous yard, and the latter, to give them 
shade and roosting-places in warm weather, for 
which we consider them eminently wholesome. 

The wooden floor is dispensed with — if the 
ground be gravelly or sandy, that will be suffi- 
ciently dry. If on a heavy or damp soil, it should 
be underdrained, which will effectually dry it. 
and be better for the fowls than a floor of wood, 
brick, or stone. Doors for the entrance of the 
poultry can be placed near the ground, hung 
on the upper side, to be closed when necessary. 

The front door opens into the laving room, 
around three sides of which arc tiers ofboxes, 
one foot wide, and one and a half feet in length 



r,i 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



and height — the lowest tier elevated two feet 
above the ground, and one tier above the other, 
and snugly partitioned between, with a hole at 
one corner of each, 10 by 8 inches, for passing 
into them, and a shelf or passage board, 9 inch- 
es wide, in front of each tier, for passing into the 
boxes. These are for nesting, and should be 
supplied with short, soft straw or hay for that 
purpose. 

COTTAGER'S rOULTKY-HOUSE. 

'jNo housewife in the country," says Bos- 
well, " whether her cottage is situated in a vil- 
lage or on the roadside, need be without a few 
fowls ; provided proper care he taken to do no 
injury to surrounding property not her own, and 
of whose possessor she has not obtained per- 
mission. This can be more easily accomplished, 
even in apparently disadvantageous circumstan- 
ces, than is generally imagined. Although in 
some cases the profit may appear small, in all, 
the economy is great. Suppose a cottager while 
engaged in his daily toil, and his wife in her 
usual avocations, should have some means by 
which even the scraps of their scanty table, with- 
out intrenching upon their time, should be turn- 
ed to profitable account, instead of littering the 
floor, or being swept out into the road! 

"For the accomplishment of this most desir- 
ahle object, the means, in a great majority of 
instances, are simple and easy. 

"At the gable end of the house, as near as 
possible to the opposite side of the kitchen fire 
— at which part, and for this purpose, the wall 
might be made thinner ; perhaps only brick in 
bed, or brick on end, to the height of six or 
eight feet — a poultry-house, 
something similar to the an- 
nexed figure, might with the 
slightest materials he made. 
Formed of rough slabs, or of 
such materials as the rural 
resident must be at all times 
able to find in his neighbor- 
_] hood, such an erection would 
cost almost no expense. Its 
construction can easily be un- 
derstood from the figure. Its size, form, and 
fitting up must depend principally upon the 




judgment and convenience of the rearer; but 
in such a place, it not being advisable to per- 
mit them to roam at large, a palisade can easily 
be formed completely to inclose this poultry- 
house. It will only require one row of stakes, 
running parallel with the gable of the house, 
with the shed at one end and a small gate at 
the other, to form a complete parallelogram, in 
which the poultry, when necessary, may be con- 
fined. The inclosure does not require to be 
high, if the tops are pointed, for these fowls 
seldom attempt to pass over. If this inclosure 
can be made to surround the ash-pit, even in 
very unfavorable circumstances, a very perfect 
and profitable poultry establishment may on a 
small scale be formed." 

In some plans, a poultry-house is built large 
enough to contain all the different species, and 
this is often found an agreeable as well as use- 
ful addition to a mansion, affording an oppor- 
tunity of observing their habits. Some poultry- 
houses have heen fitted up on a considerable 
scale, consisting of various compartments, each 
species of bird being placed in circumstances 
suited to its nature and habits ; and each com- 
partment comprising separate divisions for feed- 
ing, roosting, laying, incubation, and rearing. 
Among the most extensive of these we may re- 
fer to those of Her Majesty and Lord Penryhn, 
in Europe, and in this country, to that of Mat- 
thew Vassar, Esq., at Spring Side, near Pough- 
keepsie, one of the neatest and completest estab- 
lishments we have ever seen. The yard is in- 
closed on three sides with sheds, the roofs slop- 
ing outward, and divided into wards for the dif- 
ferent varieties of fowls, including turkeys, pea- 
cocks, Guinea-fowls, pheasants, tame and wild 
ducks, and different varieties of geese. A great 
variety of fancy pigeons are also kept in this 
establishment. 

How much of the excellence of these first-rate 
constructions are attainable on a small scale, 
will depend upon the taste of the owner, and 
other circumstances ; but although a small col- 
lection may be kept in one place, yet the prin- 
ciple of separating each species should not be 
lost sight of, and it will be found proper to give 
them different habitations, according to their 
several habits. 



POULTRY-HOUSES. 




FANCY rOULTKY -HOUSE. 



It is true poultry may be kept almost any 
where. We have heard of their being success- 
fully kept and reared in an attic or garret, who 
never knew there was any other world beyond 
the walls of their prison. In such accommoda- 
tions, however, success could only be achieved 
by constant attention and great judgment in sup- 
plying artificially those requirements of the birds 
which the place of confinement did not afford. 

Those who can well afford it, and wish to 
display more taste in this delightful branch of 
economy, might build in a Gothic, Chinese, or 
in the style of the above figure. It is designed 
for a poultry-house and yard for breeding fowls, 
ducks, and pigeons. It is intended to stand in 
the centre of a piece of grass-land or park, and 
if on a slight knoll or mound so much the better. 
If the soil is inclined to clay, it should be exca- 
vated all around the building at least two feet 



deep, and first a layer of stones about one and 
a half feet deep, then covered with coarse gravel 
and sand. This is desirable — for we consider 
it almost essential to success — stagnant moisture 
or wet in the soil being more inducive to dis- 
eases than any other circumstance. 

A southern aspect is the best, and if shel- 
tered from the north and northwest, by planta- 
tions of evergreens, it will not only be a pro- 
tection from the cold winds of winter, but a re- 
sort from the rays of the sun in summer. 

The houses and yards must be constructed 
to suit the views and purposes of the proprietor. 
The yards should be fenced with pickets at least 
six and a half feet high — wire would be m< re 
ornamental, but rather expensive. Not less 
than one-fourth of an acre should be allowed 
for fifty fowls. 

The walls of the poultry-house, should W of 



56 



THE AMEBIC AN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



brick, nine inches thick, and hollow; they 
should be at least twelve feet high, so that the 
roof can project some four feet, forming a shed 
for protecting the fowls from the storm. The 
front of the shed may be formed of lath or any 
other kind of wood, in a rustic manner, form- 
ing a trellis on Avhich vines might be trained, 
which would add much to its appearance ; or it 
may be inclosed with glass, and grapes grown 
on the rafters ; or nests may be placed in these 
sheds for sitting hens. 

We may observe here, that whichever plan is 
adopted, the cheapest and warmest materials of 
which to construct the house are a wood frame 
and a weather-boarding, either of clap-boards 
or ceiled up and down with narrow battens. It 
should be ceiled within with hemlock boards, 
tongued and grooved, and laid crosswise, and 
filled in between the timbers with spent tan, or 
any other dry substance, well rammed or pack- 
ed in. Or the spaces between the posts may 
be filled in with brick and a thin coat of plaster. 
In either case, whether of brick or wood, it should 
be whitewashed with lime. 

The roof should also be ceiled with boards 
and filled in with tan, which would render it 
cooler in summer and warmer in winter, and it 
would have many advantages, especially as af- 
fording easy access to the lime-brush, an opera- 
tion that should never be neglected four or five 
times in the year. Those who have insisted on 
this cleansing process, know well how amply the 
trouble is paid by the increased comfort and 
consequent health of their stock. It is also cer- 
tain death to vermin. 

Eor the floor, we regard bricks as the worst 
of all materials ; they retain moisture, whether 
atmospheric or arising from indifferent drain- 
age ; and thus the temperature is kept low when 
warmth is most essential, and disease too often 
follows, especially cramps in the feet and legs. 
Let the floor be of whatever materials, it should 
be kept covered with fine sand or gravel, and 
removed often. 

The interior may be finished to accommo- 
date the kind of stock intended to be kept. If 
for the large Asiatic fowls, the perches should 
be low, or the floor of their roosting-room may 
be covered w r ith straw ; in which case it should 



be cleansed or the straw changed daily. In the 
following ground plan A, A are roosting-houses, 
laying-nests, etc. 




It is not essential to success that the nests 
should be upon the ground, though for the Asi- 
atic fowls we should recommend it, in con- 
formity with the general observation, that hens 
when left to themselves usually do so. But 
whether on the ground or raised somewhat above, 
it, it should be clean and somewhat secluded. 

The cupola is intended for a pigeon-house. 
The holes by which they enter should not be 
too large or too numerous, and should have a 
shelf at the entrance. The upper tier should 
have a roof or weather-boarding over them to 
keep out the wet. An objection to a wooden 
pigeon-house is, that they are too cold in winter 
and too hot in summer ; but this may be in a 
great measure prevented by making the wood 
double, with a space of two or three inches be- 
tween, which will form a non-conductor of heat. 

The interior must have cells for nests ; and 
these may be made by putting in partitions ten 
inches apart and one foot long. Across the 
front of each nest there should be a board two 
inches wide, sliding up and down in a groove 
to prevent the young ones from falling out, as 
they are liable to ; by having this board mov- 
able, the nests may be cleaned out occasionally. 
Care should be taken to guard against rats. 



POULTRY-HOUSES. 




PEESFECTIVE VIEW OF BEOIVXE 8 I'OULTKY-IIOTJSE. 



From the "American Poultry Yard," by D. 
J. Browne, we take the following description 
of a very pretty and convenient poultry-house, 
of which the above is a perspective view : 

" A fowl-house," says Mr. Browne, " should be 
dry, well roofed, and fronting the east or south ; 
and if practicable, in a cold climate, it should be 
provided with a stove, or some other means for 
heating, warmth being very conducive to health 
and laying, though extreme heat has the con- 
trary effect. The dormitory, or roost, should 
be well ventilated by means of two latticed win- 
dows, at opposite ends of the building ; and it 
would be desirable to have one or more aper- 
tures through the roof for the escape of foul 
air. The sitting apartment, also, should be ven- 
tilated by means of a large window, in the side 
of the house, and holes through the ceiling or 
roof. If kept moderately dark, it will contrib- 
ute to the quietude of the hens, and thus favor 
the process of incubation. The sitting-room 
should be provided with boxes or troughs, well 
supplied with fresh water and proper food for 



the hens during the hatching period, from which 
they can partake at all times at will. The lay- 
ing-room, in winter, should have similar boxes 
or troughs containing old mortar, broken oyster- 
shells, soot, brick-dust, gravel, and ashes, as well 
as a liberal supply of proper food and drink. The 
perches, or roosting-poles, should be so arranged 
that one row of the fowls should not rest direct- 
ly over another. They should be so construct- 
ed as to enable the fowls to ascend and descend 
by means of ladders or steps, without making 
much use of their wings; for heavy fowls fly 
up to their roosts with difficulty, and often in- 
jure themselves by descending, as they alight 
heavily upon the ground. 

"The accompanying cut represents a hen- 
house in perspective, 20 feet long, 12 feet wide. 
and 7 feet high to the caves, with a roof "I' B 
7-foot pitch, a chimney-top, a ventilator on the 
peak, 12 feet in length and 1 foot or more in 
height, and openings in the gable ends for the 
admission of fresh air. In the easterly end there 
are two doors, one leading into the laj ing apart- 



58 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



ment and loft, and the other into the hatching- 
room. In the same end there is also a wooden 
shutter or blind, which may be opened when- 
ever necessary to let air or light into the roost. 
In the back, or northerly side, there is a large 
lattice window, three feet above the floor or 
ground, 4 by 12 feet, for the purpose of afford- 
ing fresh air to the sitting hens. In front, or 
southerly side, there is a large glazed window, 
4 by 12 feet, and another on the southerly side 
of the roof, of a corresponding size, designed to 
admit light and heat of the sun in cold weath- 
er, to stimulate the laying hens. In the south- 
erly side there are also two small apertures three 
feet above the ground or floor, for the ingress 
and egress of the fowls. These openings may 
be provided with sliding shutters, as well as 
with ' lighting boards,' inside and out, and may 
be guarded by sheets of tin, nailed on below 
them, to prevent the intrusion of rats, weasels, 
or skunks. 

" The building may be constructed of wood 
oi other materials, and in such style or order of 
aichitecture as may suit one's taste, only pre- 
serving the internal arrangements and propor- 
tions in reference to breadth and height. As a 
general rule, as regards the length of a building, 
each hen, irrespective of the cocks, may be al- 
lowed a foot. 

"In the ground plan, L denotes the laying 
apartment ; H the hatching-room, 6 by 20 feet ; 
n, n, etc., nest-boxes for laying, 14 by 14 inches, 



and ten inches deep ; o, o, etc., nest-boxes for 
sitting hens of the same size ; /, a ladder or steps 
leading into the loft ; and S, a stove for Avarm- 
ing the apartment, if desirable, when the weath- 
er is cold. 

"The transverse or cross section shows the 
building from the bottom to the top, with the 




^HTTTTTrrrrrFRs- 



GROUND PLAN. 



internal arrangements: L denotes the laying 
apartment, and H the hatching-room, divided 
in the middle by a partition ; n, the nest-boxes 
resting on tables, three or four feet above the 
floor or ground ; b, b, boxes or troughs contain- 
ing water, grain, brick-dust, sand, ground oyster- 
shells, or the materials for the convenience of 
_^^___^___^ the fowls ; d, an aperture or door 
I three feet above the ground or 
floor, for the ingress and egress 
of the fowls ; a, a lattice window, 
three feet above the floor or 
ground, for the admission of 
fresh air to the sitting hens ; R, 
the roosting-place, or loft, shut 
off from the laying and sitting 
apartments by the ceilings, c, c ; 
h, a hole or opening in the ceil- 
ing for the escape of the air be- 
low into the loft : v, the ventila- 
tor at the peak of the roof; p, 
the roosting-pole, or perch ; t, a 
trough, or bed, for retaining the 
droppings or dung." 



*CO 



POULTRY-HOUSES. 




KEVV YORK rOTTLTRY-UOUSE. 



After detailing the conveniences and manner 
of construction of several establishments, we 
eome now to a very simple, complete, and, to 
our mind, very efficient fowl-house, as given by 
a correspondent under the signature of H. in 
in the American Agriculturist. The writer says, 
"The accompanying plan and references ren- 
der a further description unnecessary. The 
north, east, and west sides of the house are of 
brick ; the floors are of cement, to keep out rats 
and other vermin. 

"Fowls will not lay well in winter unless 
they have during the day a dry, light, and warm 
apartment in cold and stormy weather. The 
room marked c is designed for this purpose ; 
it is lighted in front and above by sashes, one 
of which, in front, is hung with hinges for the 
entrance. If necessary, a ventilator may be 
added to the roof, or a window in each end." 

Where location and circumstances will per- 
mit, we would recommend setting the building 
in a side-hill, the back wall to be of stone and 



laid in mortar, which adds much to the warmth 
in winter, and renders it cool and agreeable in 
summer. 

Ground plan — a, b, apertures for admitting 




fowls, with slides for closing; c, place for feed- 
ing; d, roosting-room ; <: laying-room, with B6- 
cluded nests; J", bin for feed; g, passage. 



THE AMERICAN POULTEEER'S COMPANION. 



RUSTIC POULTRY-HOUSE. 

A very cheap, pretty, and economical plan for 
a rustic poultry-house we find described in the 
American Agriculturalist, as follows : " This kind 
of work can easily be made by any person accus- 
tomed to the use of the saw and ax. All that 
is required is a little taste, having your plan 
well digested before commencing, so as to re- 
quire no alterations. 




RUSTIC POULTRY-HOUSE. 

" For the construction of a piece of rustic 
work like the above figure, after selecting the 
situation, join four pieces of saplings in an ob- 
long shape for the sills ; confine them to the 
ground ; erect at the middle of each of the two 
ends a forked post, of suitable height, in order 
to make the sides quite steep ; join these with 
a ridge-pole ; rough-board it from ; the apex 
downward by the sills to the ground ; then cover 
it with bark, roughly cut in pieces a foot square, 
laid on and confined in the same manner as 
ordinary shingles ; fix the back end in the same 
way; and the front can be latticed with little 
poles with the bark on, arranged diamond fash- 
ion, as shown in the sketch — a part to be made 
with hinges for a door. 

" The size of the building may vary according 
to the wants of the owner. Toward the apex 
of the interior, rough roosting-poles should run 
parallel with the sides of the house, so arranged 
that one set of fowls shall not perch directly 



above the others. Troughs or holes should be 
placed under the poles, in order to catch the 
manure ; and ladders or steps should be pro- 
vided for the fowls to ascend and descend from 
their roost. Laying and sitting boxes may be 
placed at either side of the building, under the 
roofing, on or just above the ground. These 
would accommodate the Shanghai and other 
large fowls. They should be about 14 inches 
square, 10 inches deep, and concealed by bun- 
dles of corn-stalks, straAv, brush, or evergreen- 
boughs. The sitting-boxes should be partly 
filled with wood-ashes, charcoal-dust, or tobac- 
co-stems. They will ward off lice and other 
small vermin, as well as contribute to the health 
of the hen. Direct above the ashes, etc., should 
be the nest, which may be made of finely- 
chopped hay or straw, dried grass, or the leaves 
of trees. It is not at all required to have as 
many nests as hens, as one might suppose, be- 
cause they have not all occasion to occupy them 
at the same time." 

poor man's poultry-house. 

A very cheap and economical plan of a poul- 
try-yard and pen is given by T>. F. Ames, in 
the Farmer's Rural Library. " When neces- 
sary to fatten any fowls for the table or mark- 
et," says Mr. Ames, "the yard plan is far bet- 
ter than confinement in a dirty coop, where 
they generally first lose flesh, and afterward con- 
tract a flavor by no means pleasant. One of 
these pens, of the most simple form, and such 
a one as any handy lad could make in a few 
hours, should be attached to every cottage ; it 
costs nothing but a very little labor, and would 
really be pleasant employment for the noon 
hours, or evening. 

"First, let a convenient and suitable place 
be chosen for a fowl-yard ; not in a dark, shady 
corner, but in a light, airy situation ; and, con- 
sidering the number of fowls intended to be 
kept, mark its size : it is not well to have too 
many together, as the cocks will disagree. A 
stock of twenty-five, containing two or three 
cocks, is sufficient for one house ; if more are 
to be kept, erect another pen in a different di- 
rection ; accordingly, mark out a place in the 
form of a circle of eighteen or twenty-four feet 



POULTRY-HOUSES. 



61 



in diameter. On the outside of this circle, cut 
a trench three or four inches wide and deep, 
and plant poles twelve or eighteen inches into 
the ground every two feet. These poles should 
be as thick as a man's arm, and eight or ten 
feet high, thus forming a circle of poles stand- 
ing on end. Choose a space to the south, be- 
tween two of the poles, for the purpose of a 
door, and the poles on each side of this space 
should be straight, and a little stouter than the 
rest; then go to the swamp or brushwood, and 
cut a good parcel of it, leaves, small twigs, and 
burrs, all just as it stands. It ought to be six 
feet long, that it may reach three of the poles, 
and if longer all the better ; then having con- 
veyed it to the standing poles, commence by 
lacing some of the stout and straight ones round 



the poles in the trench, alternately in and out, 
like basket-work, going the whole round, the 
door-way, of course, excepted. When you have 
got it eight or ten inches high, stamp it well 
down, making all tight and firm, that the small- 
est chicken may not be able to pass through it. 
Go on thus till you get it five feet high, then 
pass the circle of brush over door-way and all, 
to make it firmer and stronger, continuing it 
up to the height of eight or ten feet ; the upper 
may be lighter and not braided so close ; braid 
sometimes on one, and then on the other side 
of the uprights. Upon this principle, a yard 
may be made of any size, and in any situation, 
for really nothing. Any boy can make a door 
for this, and fix it with hinges from the sole 
leather of an old shoe. 




rOOR MASS rOULTEY-IIOUSE. 



" Then comes the fowl-house ; this should be 
placed in the centre of the circle, that no ver- 
min may get at it, and that the fowls may find 
shade and shelter all around, as the wind or 
sun may happen to be. A few stakes, a little 
more brush, and an armful of straw for thatch 
or roof, will make this answer ; but one formed 
of boards, with a good tight straw thatch, would 
be far preferable. Mind, I say 'straw thatch' 
for roof, as it is far the best thing; and if prop- 
erly done, it will last twenty years. The sun, 
rain, and snow, have no effect on it. It is very 
warm in winter, and lets no heat through in 



summer. It should be formed of good, clean, 
long straw, clean-thrashed, and as little broken 
as possible; wheat or rye is preferable; put it 
on ten or twelve inches thick ; I have seen it 
eighteen inches. Tie it close and securely with 
strips of white oak or hickory bark well twisted ; 
but this every one knows how to perform. Mind 
and let the roof have a good pitch, or in other 
words, be very steep, that snow and rain may 
be quickly thrown oil". To make this warmer 
in winter, the sides, cither outside or within, 
maybe laid with cedar brush ami salt hay tacked 
up to the boards; or made of brush wicker-work, 



62 



THE AMEEICAN POULTEREE'S COMPANION. 



and then plastered outside and in with clay and 
short salt hay ; and when dry, a good coat of 
lime whitewash. This gives a neat, pretty look, 
and is warm and cheap. 

" Now for the inside of the house — this should 
be arranged with order and neatness, for neg- 
lect on these points will be a serious evil ; first, 
the nests : these may be formed by placing 
boards sixteen inches apart, beginning from the 
ground (do not floor it) ; then divide them into 
boxes by partitioning eveiy sixteen or eighteen 
inches, and partly blind the front by nailing a 
board against them, leaving just room for the 
hens to pass out and in ; a little piece of shin- 
gle can be placed across the bottom of the en- 
trances to prevent the eggs from rolling out, and 
a perch can be so placed along the front as to 
assist them in getting up and into them. Choose 
those on the ground to hatch in, as the earth 
retains the temperature of the eggs better than 
hay or straw. Little doors would be convenient 
to place before the sitting hens to prevent their 
being disturbed. 

"Perches for their nightly accommodation 
and roosting should be placed across so as not to 
have them dirty on one another, and down into 
the nests ; and they should also be placed at 
different elevations, so as they can easily get 
up and jump from one to another. The perches 
or roosts should be of a good size, round, and 
stout as a man's wrist or arm, to make them 
steady, and to prevent the hens contracting the 
deformity of a bent or a crooked breast-bone, 
which is common from this cause ; they should 
also be so far apart that the fowls can not from 
one perch peck those of another. Some fowls 
have a trick of doing this, and I have had sev- 
eral instances of the hens being almost stripped 
of feathers on the head and neck from others 
they did not agree with, and yet they would per- 
tinaciously adhere to the situation that subjected 
them to the painful operation." 

The hen-house should never be much larger 
than sufficient to accommodate the number of 
fowls to be kept in it ; for if too large they hud- 
dle together in one corner, and, as it has been 
before observed, hens produce eggs more abund- 
antly in a small apartment than in a more spa- 
cious building. But warmth and cleanliness 



should be particularly attended to, and it should 
be rendered in every respect comfortable and 
agreeable to the birds that inhabit it ; for, if 
that be not done, they will seek to lay away 
from home instead of in the nests provided for 
them, and if they can not succeed, they will to 
a certainty produce fewer eggs than if their pro- 
pensities and tastes were better indulged ; but 
if they have a clean, quiet, warm place to retire 
to, they will lay regularly and abundantly, and 
will repay both the trouble and expense. 

P.IIODE-ISLAND POULTRY-HOUSE. 

The following plan of a poultry-house is tak- 
en from the Albany Cultivator, and differs very 
considerably from those already given. The 
writer who furnishes the plan remarks, " Some 
farmers are of an opinion that a few boards 
tacked together, or set against the side of a 
wall, answer very well for the purpose of a hen- 
roost; but I have come to the conclusion that 
to render our fowls profitable, as much care 
must be taken of them as of our horses and cat- 
tle. This house may be built of pine boards, 
or it may be clap-boarded and plastered with 
lime ; in either case it should have a good plank 
floor. It is twelve feet long, eight feet wide, 
and seven feet high, from the bottom of the sill 
to the top of the plate." 




Fig. 1. 



Fig. 2. 



EXPLANATION. 



Fir/. 1. View of the east end: A, a door, 
two feet wide and five feet high ; E, a small 
window for ventilation. 

• Fig. 2. View of the west end : NN, two holes 
one foot square for the entrance of the fowls ; 



POULTRY-HOUSES. 



63 



F, a door to throw out the manure ; it turns up 
and hooks at E ; C C, windows with small wire 
grates. 

Fig. 3. Interior view ; U, a door ; OOOO, 

Fig. S. 





1 ! 










i 


£ 







V 


V 


B 






- 








(> 


\ 


°ii 



boxes for nests, twelve inches square, to be 
placed in three tiers, one above the other ; U, 
an inside door of the same dimensions as the 
outer one ; BB, are poles, or roosts ; these may 
be either sassafras or wild cherry-tree. They are 
fitted to swing up and hook at the upper floor. 
Fig. 4. Side view ; M M, nests or boxes for 

Fig. 4. 



*!/"'!/ " 



door to 



brood hens ; these should have a lonj 
swing down and hook at the bottom. 

VIRGINIA POULTRY-HOUSE. 

A writer in the fifth volume of the Cultivator 
says, "I have used the poultry-house of which 
the following drawing is a representation, for 
about eight years, and can testify that it is pref- 
erable to any known in this section of country, 
and many of my neighbors have thrown aside 
their old houses and built after my plan. 

"The roosts for the fowls should be often re- 
newed, and always of sassafras, as the smell of 
that wood is deleterious to the vermin on poultry. 
The floor in the sitting-room should alwavs 




be kept perfectly clean, and continually covered 
with ashes and lime, and the litter from under 
the roost taken away weekly. 




1T.0NT VIEW. 



A, the door; B, the entrance for the fowls; 
C C C, the openings underneath the mitred 
floor, where the fowls roost ; D D D, six-inch 




GROUND PLAN. 

openings to admit air ; E, the ground floor, made 
of earth, elevated above the surface one foot, 
with boxes for the poultry to lay and sit in ; 
F, a ladder 
for poultry to 
go to their 
roosting- 
roora ; G G 
G G, boxes 
for nests ; IT, 
lattice floor 
for the litter REAI? V,K " '■ 

from the poultry to fall through, and room for 
the poultry to roost in; I, a round hole, one 
foot in diameter, for fowls to roost ; J J ,T. lat- 
tice windows of blinds three feet wide, and 
three feet six inches deep." 




64 



THE AMEEICAN POULTEEEE'S COMPANION. 



In the third volume of 
the Country Gentlemanwe jj | | 
find the following plan, ^ 
with the annexed eleva- 
tion, of a cheap poultry- 
house, furnished by a 
correspondent. 

He says: "I have 
thought it would not be 
out of place to send you 
a drawing and plan of 
one we consider the best, 

as it can be made to accommodate from one doz- 
en to five hundred fowls. 



GROUND PLAN. 

"The plan I send is 16 feet long by 8 feet 
wide at the bottom, and 
costs, by using one-inch 
matched boards, about 
$ I per foot. The pres- 
ent one will cost from 
4> $16 to $20, including 
f*) sash, doors, and other 
|| -i fixtures. 

" The engraving ex- 
hibits the plan so clear- 
ly that any explanation 








Roost; una 


Raorris 










Feeding 


Rooms 


1 M» 1 1 


nes\ts | 




8 FA 

TEANSYEKSE SECTION. 



is altogether unnecessary." 

VAN NUXEN S POITLTKY-HOT7SE. 

" Having made some experiments in the rais- 
ing of chickens, a business that forms a part of 
every farmer's occupation, I send you a descrip- 
tion of my present plan of operation, which ap- 
pears to answer admirably. Under an out- 
house 16 by 18 feet, raised three feet above the 
ground, I have made a cellar three feet below 



C1IEAP rOCXTKY-nOTTSE. 

the ground, making the height six feet alto- 
gether. Eight feet in width of this cellar is 
partioned off for turnips, the remaining ten by 
sixteen feet being sufficiently large to accom- 
modate one hundred chickens, or more. This 
cellar is inclosed with boards at present, but it 
is intended to substitute brick walls in a year 
or two. The roost is made sloping from the 
roof to within eighteen inches from the ground 
or floor, twelve feet long by six feet wide. The 
roost is formed in this way : Two pieces of two- 
inch plank, six inches wide, and twelve feet 
long, are fastened parallel, six feet apart, by a 
spike or pin, to the joist above, the lower end 
resting on a post eighteen inches above ground. 
Notches are made along the upper edge of the 
plank, one foot apart, to receive sticks or poles 
from the woods, the bark being left on. When 
it is desirable to clean out the roosts, the poles, 
being loose, are removed ; the supports, work- 
ing on a pivot, are raised and fastened up, when 
all is clear for the cleaning out. I next provide 
the fowls with corn, oats, and buckwheat in three 
separate apartments, holding about half a bush- 
el each, which are kept always supplied. 

" A row of nests is constructed after a plan 
of my own, and does well. It is a box, ten 
feet long and eighteen inches wide ; the bottom 
level, the top sloping at an angle of forty-five 
degrees, to prevent the fowls roosting on it ; the 
top opens on hinges. The nests, eight in num- 
ber, are one foot square ; the remaining six 
inches of the width is a passage way next to the 
wall, open at each end of the box ; the advant- 
age is to give the hens the apparent secrecy they 
are so fond of." 



. POULTKY-HOUSES. 




DUCK-IIOUSE. 



Ducks, being in a great measure aquatic birds, 
will not thrive unless there be a piece of water 
of some kind for them to swim in, or at least to 
dip in their bills and sputter, and it is useless 
without this to attempt keeping them. They 
should have a place separate from other poultry, 
on account of the great difference in their hab- 
its. When circumstances will permit the ar- 
rangement, we recommend having the house 
adjoining the pond, which should be inclosed. 
The laying ducks should have plenty of room, 
for the sake of cleanliness, and should never 
share the habitations of geese, as the ducks are 
liable to persecution. "When accustomed to be 
fed in the house, they readily present them- 
selves at the proper time ; in the morning they 
get their food apart from the geese and fowls — 
in which case they are not plundered by the 
former, nor pilfered by the latter; and thus, 
too, their eggs are secured with far greater cer- 
tainty, since the birds are not released from 
their inclosure till after the hour which usually 
witnesses the deposit of their eggs. The duck 
generally lays at night, or early in the morn- 
ing, and is usually disposed to lay away from 
her house; but by our plan many eggs are se- 
cured which otherwise would have probably 
been lost. 

A very cheap, pretty plan for a duck-house 

may be constructed something after the style of 

the above engraving, placed on the bank of a 

pond or small island of an ornamental sheet of 

E 



water. It may be constructed of rough boards 
thatched with straw, and partly covered with 
running vines and shrubbery, which would not 
only be ornamental but make a very pretty and 
cheap house for aquatic fowls. 

The interior arrangement of the house may 
vary according to the means and taste of the pro- 
prietor, only providing the ducks with nest box- 
es, in order that they may lay and incubate un- 
disturbed, and affording proper protection for 
their young. 

It is not in every situation that ducks can be 
kept with advantage. They require water much 
more than the goose ; they are no graziers, yet 
they are liearty feeders, and excellent "snappers- 
up of unconsidered trifles ;" nothing comes amiss 
to them ; and in places where tadpoles and the 
larvae of aquatic insects abound, they can be 
kept at trifling expense. 

A strong desire for the selection of her own 
nest is generally found to influence the duck ; 
but this is mainly the case as the time draws 
near for incubation, since previously to that pe^ 
riod, if the egg has not been laid before she 
has been let out of her house in the morn- 
ing, it is usually dropped at random — wherever, 
in fact, the bird may chance to lie when the 
time comes. If the nest selected by the duck 
be tolerably secure, it is better to allow her to 
continue there; for rarely will she sit well if 
she be disturbed by removal from the spot of 
her choice. 



GO 



THE AMEEICAN POULTEEEE'S COMPANION. 




SECKET NESTS. 



CHAPTER III. 

ACCESSOEIES TO THE POULTEY-HOUSE. 



PLANS FOR NESTS. 

Nests are sometimes fixtures, and generally 
built against the wall, either in one tier or sev- 
eral, according to the number of fowls and the 
size of the house. When there is more than 
one tier, each of those above the ground must 
have a projecting shelf at the bottom for the 
hens to reach the nests, and a slanting board, 
with strips of lath nailed on, leading to each 
tier. But we prefer, and would by all means 
recommend, movable nests arranged along; the 




SECTIONAL VIEW. 



wall, with a shelf in front, and a sloping top or 
cover, so that the hens may not roost on»it and 



annoy our notions of tidiness by the traces we 
should find there the following morning. Fi- 
nally, each nest should have its cover open sep- 
arately, so that the adjoining birds may not be 
disturbed when we have occasion to examine 
any nest, or to remove the hen herself. The 
bottom should be sliding, shallow drawers, three 
inches deep, to prevent the eggs rolling out, 
and also as a safe-guard to the newly-hatched 
chickens before they are removed to their coop. 
As to distance from the floor, we would place 
them for Asiatic fowls at six inches. We give 
preference to nests raised a few inches from the 
ground solely on account of the greater facility 
for cleaning the house by allowing the broom to 
reach beneath. If partially closed in front- — ■ 
by far the better plan — the entrance should be 
on one side, as shown in the sectional figure, 
thereby giving greater privacy to the interior — 
a quality which is highly prized by the occu- 
pant. 

The hen is a prude, and likes to steal away 
in some sly place to deposit her eggs. To grat- 
ify their organ of secretiveness, we had the 
fronts removed, with the exception of the two- 
inch ledge in front, and tacked hemlock boughs 



ACCESSORIES TO THE POULTRY-HOUSE. 



67 



to the front, as represented in the figure at the 
head of this chapter, nearly closing the entran- 
ces, giving the hen an appearance of obscurity, 
and an opportunity of gratifying her natural pro- 
pensity. This arrangement seemed very satis- 
factory to the hens, besides adding much to the 
appearance of the house. Where evergreens 
are not at hand, fine lattice-work will answer an 
equal purpose. It is amusing too, when you 
enter the house, to see how shy and cunning 
they look in their cosy and, to them, private 
nest. 

In large poultry-houses, when a great number 
of fowls is confined, it would be well to have 
sitting-nests so formed as to keep them secure 
froni the intrusions of the hens who have been 
in the habit of depositing their eggs there. One 
reason for adopting this system of apparent — 
but only apparent — restraint, is principally to 
prevent those friendly visits of other hens which 
are always anxious to insure a numerous prog- 
eny to their neighbor, by adding their own con- 
tributions ; this, however, not being usually ap- 
proved of by her ladyship in possession, a scuf- 
fle is frequently the result at the expense of the 
eggs, which are thus too commonly broken or 
injured. 

We have found too, that the daily absence 
of the sitting-hen for food and exercise has 
been waited for by the other members of the 
poultry-yard which are about to deposit their 
eggs, and that they will avail themselves of 
such absence to mount the place of honor and 
prevent the return of the rightful owner. 

We have also had eggs rolled out of the nest 
into those of the same level — you may conject- 
ure with what lamentable results ; we have, 
therefore, arrived at the conclusion that the 
old adage "safe bind, safe find," will apply in 
this case as well as in most others, and that it 
is upon the whole the best plan to secure the 
hen in the undisturbed possession of her nest, 
taking care, of course, to liberate her at a fixed 
hour on each day, and to have food and water 
at hand for her use. 

The confinement of the hen is effected either 
by having a sliding board well perforated with 
air-holes or wire-work, that may be drawn across 
the entrance ; or where the front of the nest is 



open, a bar to let down, of sufficient width to 
prevent either egress or ingress. 

As to the exact description of the nest which 
would be most suitable for the hens while en- 
gaged in sitting, almost every poultry-keeper 
^ias some favorite arrangement of his own, and, 
provided some two or three requisites are com- 
plied with, no great harm is likely to result from 
his indulging in it. The recess in the chimney- 
corner, the unused manger, and the concealed 
nook in the cart-shed have great attractions to 
many hens, and, barring accident from the ex- 
posed situation, as good a brood may be thence 
expected as the most scientifically-constructed 
nest can afford us. But as the eggs in the lat- 
ter place often disappear, and the hen herself 
is at times found wanting or defunct, few would 
be willing thus to hazard the safety of any val- 
uable bird. 

Eor hatching we prefer nests on the ground ; 
for, in the first place, almost all poultry will 
choose the earth as their resting-place, if cir- 
cumstances will permit them to do so ; and we 
are of the opinion that the small amount of 
dampness to which the eggs are exposed in this 
case, is any thing but undesirable or productive 
of injury to the forthcoming brood ; and, second- 
ly, the possibility of fracture arising from their 
being thrown out of the nests is greatly lessened. 

But when we look at the places usually se- 
lected by the hens themselves, damp, and many 
other matters which we arc often anxious sedu- 
lously to guard against, are plainly by them 
thought of little amount ; and yet, at the expi- 
ration of the allotted time, the number of young 
led forth often tally very nearly with the eggs 
that had been there deposited. It seems, in- 
deed, as if the self-willed hen was conscious 
that, having acted so far on her own responsi- 
bility, she could reckon on no other aid, and was 
thus incited to greater diligence in the perform- 
ance of her natural duties. The desire of all 
animals in a state of nature to conceal the abode 
of their young is thus partially adopted by the 
hen Avho steals her nest, and takes every pre- 
caution by limiting the period of her daily ab- 
sence, and retiring, if possible, unobserved, that 
a goodly brood may prove the wisdom of her 
choice. 



68 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



Be this, however, as it may, fewer eggs, it 
can not be denied, are to be found in an addled 
state in such stolen nests than when those of 
any one hen are kept for sitting, and when the 
eleven or thirteen are ready placed under the 
intended mother. We believe, too, that what-< 
ever care may be taken by us in keeping our 
eggs, their vitality is greatly preserved, when 
allowed to remain in the nest, by the periodical 
visits of the hen while adding to the store ; and 
that the warmth of the half-hour or longer pe- 
riod occupied by the act of laying, stimulates 
the embryo, and tends to preserve it in a vigor- 
ous state. 

WICKER-WORK NESTS. 

A writer in the Cottage Gardener says, " We 
have used most contrivances in this way, but 
never found any to answer so completely as 
these. The hens take to them, and we require 
no better judgment than that. I believe they 
are a wrinkle for this article and The Cottage 




VICKEK-WOEK. NESTS. 



Gardener to say, Go forth ! An auger, a saw, a 
bill-hook, a clasp-knife, a stout piece of leather 
for hinges, some iron tacks, a few poles, two 
inches in diameter, cut fresh from the water-wil- 
low, some strips, and a few seasoned pieces of 
larch, or any other boards, are all the imple- 
ments and material I made use of in their con- 



struction. Rive the willow rods into laths two- 
eighths of an inch thick; wattle them on the 
frame as in the engraving. Why I give the pref- 
erence to these wattled boxes, in lieu of those 
formed of solid boards, is by reason of the con- 
stant circulation of air going on through the 
interstices. This has a great deal more to do 
with the health and comfort of the hens, and 
the perspective ' counting of the chickens be- 
fore they are hatched,' than a great many peo- 
ple are aware of. In nine cases out of ten, 
sitting-boxes are too hot, close, and dry. Draw 
a comparison between them and the stolen, or, 
if you will, more natural nest in the grass or 
under a hedge in the open air — which of the 
two are notorious for producing a numerous 
and healthy offspring?" 

CHEAP NESTS. 

A friend, a practical man, recommends old 
nail-kegs for nests, as being not only econom- 
ical, but very convenient in regard to cleaning. 
A narrow piece of board should be nailed across 
the open end, at the lower part, to keep the eggs 
from rolling out. A rack of poles may be set 
against the wall, and the kegs secured to it 
make attractive nests. We have seen flour- 
barrels set in the crotch of apple-trees for the 
same purpose, and the hen takes to them readily. 
One particular advantage of this kind of nests is, 
that when necessary to cleanse them, all that is 
required is to have a kettle of boiling water, and 
immerse the keg for a few moments, which will 
kill the vermin. Have a tub of hot lime-wash 
ready, and wash the keg inside and out with it. 
If these precautions are not attended to, partic- 
ularly when hens are sitting, they are very apt 
to be infested with myriads of lice, which are not 
only annoying to them, but often drive the hen 
from her nest, and not unfrequently destroy her 
life. 

STRAW NESTS. 

We have seen nests made of twisted straw, 
in the same way as bee-hives are made; two 
apartments, one above the other. The objec 
tions to these are : they are too confined, and 
afford a harbor for vermin, and are too difficult 
to clean. 



ACCESSORIES TO THE POULTRY-HOUSE. 



G9 



CURIOUS NEST. 

A cute Yankee down east, it is said, has in- 
vented a hen's nest, in the hottom of which 
there is a kind of trap-door, through which the 
egg, when laid, immediately drops ; the hen, 
looking round and seeing none, lays another. 

SECRET NESTS. 

The following plan for fixed and secret nests 
is from the " American Poultry-House," which 
the author says " has lately been contrived in 
Connecticut, and I have tried it with complete 
success. Hens are well known to be anxious to 
deposit their eggs in secluded places. The se- 
cret nests, sections of which are here given, are 
well adapted to satisfy this natural propensity. 
They are made thus: 'Place a platform of 
boards two feet 
wide, and say ten 
feet long (though 
it may be made 
of any length), 
against a building 
or a close board 
fence, about three 
feet from the 
ground. Along 
the outer edge of 
this platform nail 
a board length- 
wise and upright, about one foot high — leave a 
space open in the middle and at each end, eight 
or nine inches wide, and divide the remaining 
space inside the nests a foot square ; this leaves 
a passage-way nearly a foot wide behind the 
nests. The top must slope from the wall, and 
open partly or entirely with hinges. These nests 
are easily examined, and give the fowls all the 
secrecy they seem to require.' " 

CHICKEN COOPS. 

To give the chickens the best chance of life 
the hen should be confined in a coop, under 
a shed or outhouse, until they are about four 
weeks old ; and in cold weather a week or two 
longer. The coop, however, should be moved 
into the sunshine, and on grass, if possible, 
whenever the temperature is sufficiently mild. 




The most common method employed for the 
purpose of confining the hen with her young 
bi-ood, is to drive stakes into the ground in front 
and make a pen about two feet square and cover 
with boards ; but a better plan is to lay a flour- 
barrel on its side, with one end out, and drive 
a few sticks into the ground in front. This 
makes a very dry and comfortable coop, pro- 




^^^P« 



IS A KEEL COOr. 

tecting them from rain and winds, and allows 
the chickens to range about the yard, .'.here they 
are enabled to pick up seeds, insects, and worms, 
by which means they obtain a large share of 
their living. 

We say nothing of the poor hen's state of 
mind while, confined herself but with her young 
brood at large, she witnesses their erratic con- 
duct, and their danger from hawks, rats, cats, 
or ill-temper, or spitefulness of some of her own 
race, which often terminates in her "scrabbling" 
to death (a truly emphatic term, indicative of 
her peculiar notions under excitement of this 
kind) those of the brood which first answer 
the summons of recall while others are still 
truant. Her feelings, therefore, should be stud- 
ied for our own sake, no less than for her's. 

MARQUEE OR TENT COOPS. 

The marquee or tent-shaped coops, of which 
the following figure is a representation, we have 
found very efficient during the summer, if we 
avoid placing it on grass anywise damp daring 
the early days of its inmates, though it docs not 
afford the same degree of shelter as the one to 
be described hereafter. 

The marquee coop is formed by nailing pieces 
of boards, two feet long, in such a way as to form 
two parts of a triangle, the ground forming the 



70 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 




TEXT COOI'S. 

other side. In warm and dry weather we con- 
sider it better to have them next the earth ; 
but in the early spring, when the weather is 
cold and the ground wet, a floor or platform of 
boards, or an old door, should always be put un- 
der the coops. It should be two feet long, or 
if three feet much the better, and twenty-two 
high in the centre. The back end should be 
boarded up tight, with the exception of a small 
hole at the peak to admit air. The front should 
be secured by nailing strips of lath, as denoted 
in the figure, leaving sufficient space between 



them for the free passage of the chicks 
without affording liberty to the lien. In 
front there should be a broad strip of board 
as long as the width of the coop on which 
to feed them. This board may be secured 
to the bottom bar of the coop with leather 
hinges, so as to admit of its being raised up 
to close the coop toward evening, which 
will not only answer the purpose of guard- 
ing the young brood against rats and other ene- 
mies during the night, but will prevent the chick- 
ens from wandering about the next morning on 
the dew and wet grass. 

Precaution should be taken not to have the 
coops too near each other, as the chickens of 
the different broods are apt to wander to the 
wrong hen, where they will be punished and 
sometimes killed. Fifty or sixty feet apart will 
be a sufficient distance in general to secure the 
safety of the young broods from injury by other- 
fowls. 



2 feet f'.C inches. 



Sliding 
front. 



(T~W 



TZJL 




Sliding Dottom 



Ja 



AN ENGLlbll cool". 



The above is a front and end view of an ex- 
cellent coop for early-hatched chickens, where 
it is desirable to have command of the mother 
as well as her young. A little court in front, 
two feet six inches wide, and three feet long, 
made of lath or wire-work, which restrains their 
wanderings, and checks the incursions of other 
members of our flock. When the weather will 
permit it can be removed to a warm sheltered 
piece of gravel, where the benefit of the sun's 
rays may reach them. Two or three hours of 



good sunshine are then worth a week of codling 
and swaddling by the kitchen fire ; and rarely 
does a young chick seem to think the sun too 
powerful — though if the mother differs with 
them in this, she is always ready to call them 
within the coop, for their play-ground is but 
the limited little court. So soon as the day 
wanes in spring, and while the temperature is 
low, we would remove them to the shelter of 
the house for the night ; and the barred front of 
the coop closing altogether with a slide, they re^ 



ACCESSORIES TO THE POULTRY-HOUSE. 



7L 



main safe and warm till the next morning, when 
a similar move takes place again. The ends 
of the coop are perforated with air-holes, small 
enough to be secure against rats or weasels. In 
summer the coops stand out during the night. 

It has a sliding bottom, as indicated by the 
dotted lines. "We consider that the extra ex- 
pense of a sliding bottom is well repaid by the 
avoidance of damp, and the greater facility of 
cleaning it. The interior of these, as in other 
chicken abodes, is not always so entirely in view 
as to render it at once perceptible whether the 
person who has charge of them has the same 
idea of the importance of scrubbing and purify- 
ing as we ourselves may think necessary ; but 
if a second slide is at hand, to be scoured on al- 
ternate days, and dried in the sun or by the fire 
before it replaces the one in use, we are safe, and 
the health of our chickens will soon satisfy us 
that they appreciate the care. 

But do not let our readers be frightened by 
the minuteness of these directions, for at a later 
season the chickens may be left much more to 
themselves ; only let them remember that if in 
possession of a choice breed of fowls, and they 
desire to have healthy chickens at an early pe- 
riod of the year, their chances of success will 
be infinitely increased by following our advice. 
In our system of management we always en- 
deavored to adopt as natural a course of treat- 
ment as might be; and if such daily care and 
attention to their dwelling-houses and food be 
insisted on as contrary to the natural provision 
they would meet with in a state of liberty, we 
can only reply that equally contrary to nature 
is their existence in a domesticated state. W T e 
have deprived them of what nature would have 
given ; for which, therefore, some compensation 
must be made. 

close coor. 

A writer in the Cultivator says : " The follow- 
ing cut is a coop of my invention, which I think 
is very convenient. It may be made of inch 
boards, long enough to admit of any number of 
fowls. A A, slats raised for admitting the hens ; 
B B, doors to open and shut at night, to prevent 
the intrusion of any kind of vermin ; C, button 
for fastening the doors." 




close coor. 



In all cases a warm, dry, and quiet place 
should be chosen for the coops, near the house, 
on account of the convenience of feeding them, 
and where the chickens are not in danger of be- 
ing trod on either by man or beast, nor where 
the hen will suffer from the intense heat of the 
sun, or where there is danger of the chickens 
being carried off by the hawks or crows. To 
make them thrive % fine sand or ashes should be 
near at hand where the chicks can roll and busk 
themselves. 

It has been our practice to place hens with 
their chickens in the walks of our garden, at 
least fifty feet apart ; where they not only ob- 
tain their livelihood, but are of great service in 
destroying large numbers of bugs, worms, in- 
sects, and their eggs, which are so injurious to 
vegetation. We found some difficulty, howev- 
er, in this, for the hawks would pounce upon 
them, and where the vegetables, such as beans 
and peas, are pretty rank, the rats will take 
shelter and catch the young chickens when they 
run among them. It is well to look to these 
evils, and we would also advise their removal 
after they are one month or so old, or they will 
become so attached to the garden that it will he 
difficult to keep them out. 

At the end of six weeks the hen may be set 
at liberty after the dew is off in the morning 
and the weather fair, and if the movable coop 
be employed, it may be propped up with a stick. 
and the hen will return to it of her own accord 
at night, when it may be let down and kept s<> 
until the dew of the morning is dried off'. At 
the end of two weeks more they may be turned 
into the poultry-yard. 

As they will at first hardly receive fair play 
in the distribution of food, it will be necessary 
to prepare for them a feeding-coop, so that they 



72 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



may enjoy their food without being disturbed 
by the older fowls. This we effected by driv- 
ing strips of board or stakes in the ground, leaA'- 
ing spaces between just wide enough to pre- 
vent the grown fowls from entering, encircling 
a space from four to five feet in diameter and 
about two feet high, covered with boards, through 
which was a small aperture or door, where the 
feed was put into the hoppers of the feeding- 
box, which was made on purpose. 

PENS AND COOPS. 

It is sometimes necessary to separate some 
fowls from the rest; such as those which are 
diseased, which are liable to be ill-treated by 
the rest, as also strangers, and fowls of particu- 
lar breeds. Pens or coops are useful for this 
purpose, which may be made in various ways. 




TEN COOP. 



The above figure represents a very useful pen 
for keeping a cock and three or four hens for 
breeding, where they can enjoy the sun and 
fresh air, and yet be protected from stormy 
weather ; and it may serve instead of a poultry- 
yard. It has a house to roost, lay, and hatch in, 
and an open part for exercise. 

The dimensions are as follows : The shed or 
pen may be four feet high in front, the roof 
sloping to three feet in the rear, with holes in 
the ends to give a free circulation of air. It 
may be six feet long and four feet wide. The 
entrance, which is not shown in the figure, is 
in the yard. The yard may be ten feet long 
and six feet wide to correspond with the shed. 
Tbe yard may be inclosed with pannels of lath 
and rails four feet high, and the top covered 



also with lath to secure the birds from flying 
over. 

This same plan may be reduced to a size suit- 
able for a hen and chickens. The coop for that 
purpose should be twenty-two inches high in 
front, and eighteen inches in the rear, and 
twenty inches square at the bottom. The top 
opens, and there is a sliding door in front to 
shut in the hen. The front or yard may be 
four feet long, slatted with laths, with a hole 
cut through the bottom, as shown in the figure, 
for hens to scratch in. It is light and easy to 
be removed from one place to another, which 
should be done daily. The tight and open part 
answers the double purpose of sitting the hen, 
and keeping her and the chickens in until they 
are able to take care of themselves. 

Colonel Jaques says, " I think chickens can be 
raised as well without as with a hen, even though 
you take the chicks away in an hour or less 
after coming from the shell. Some of my hand- 
somest pullets were raised the past season with- 
out a hen. In order to do this you want a small 
coop, built in a lean-to shape, three to five feet 
long, high and wide in proportion, with a small 
door in front, and two squares of glass to ad- 
mit light and sun, when cold and rainy. A 
piece of sheepskin, with the wool on, nailed to 
a board, would answer for them to run under 
and get warm." 

NEST-EGGS. 

There is some advantage to those who keep 
fowls and desire eggs in winter in having nest- 
eggs ; they are useful appendages to the laying- 
houses, as indicating to the young aspirant to 
national honors the whereabouts of the "pro- 
creant cradle." "We find also that they induce 
some hens to keep to their nests which are oth- 
erwise induced to deposit their eggs at random. 
An essential quality of a good nest-egg is a toler- 
able resemblance to a real egg. A hen will nev- 
er lay to an egg-shell, however perfect it may 
be, for she knows by its want of weight that 
it is a counterfeit. 

A good nest-egg may be made of solid white 
maple or hickory wood turned to the proper 
shape. But every one has not a lathe, and such 
ejnrs are not alwavs to be had. Another nest- 



ACCESSORIES TO THE POULTRY-HOUSE. 



73 



egg which may be made by any person, any 
where, has been described in the Prairie Farmer 
by Mr. Lathrope, of Lasalle, a gentleman who 
keeps one hundred hens. 

The eggs are made of clay, formed to the 
right shape in the hands. After being dried 
they are whitewashed, and ready for use. These 
eggs answer the purpose perfectly, the hens ac- 
cepting them as those of their ownmake. Chalk, 
formed to the shape of an egg, has also been 
used ; and white marble turned to the proper 
shape has been used for nest-eggs, but being 
solid and heavy, they would break the real eggs 
when coming in contact, on which account they 
have been discarded. 

A very excellent artificial nest-egg can be 
made of plaster, in the following manner : Take 
an egg and break a small hole in the largest end, 
of about a quarter of an inch in diameter; in 
the other end make a small hole with a pin, and 
then blow the contents out of the larger hole. 
Then take some calcined or boiled plaster, and 
make a thin paste with water, and fill the shell, 
which soon sets and becomes hard, and then 
paste a small piece of white paper over the 
holes, to prevent the hens from picking out the 
plaster. 

But among all the plans and devices for arti- 
ficial nest-eggs those made of glass exceed the 
whole. It is the invention of some of our in- 
genious Eastern neighbors, and the imitation is 
so perfect, that Mrs. Biddy, with all her shrewd- 
ness, could not detect it as counterfeit. They 
are opake, and about the size and weight of 
a common sized hen's-egg, and can be had at 
the agricultural warehouses at one dollar per 
dozen. 

FEEDING-HOPPERS. 

Some farmers are in the practice of feeding 
their fowls from the hand, strewing it over the 
ground, while others throw down the corn in 
the ear in a heap, and permit the fowls to help 
themselves. This is considered a slovenly and 
wasteful mode, and well calculated to invite 
rats and mice. In our experience we have 
found it more economical to keep grain con- 
stantly before them, and for that purpose adopt- 
ed feeding-hoppers. 



Our first hopper was made after the plan of 
Mr. Ames, who says, "Hoppers can be made 
out of an old candle-box, to be had at any gro- 
cery store for twenty-five cents. They are 18 
inches long, 12 wide, and 10 inches deep. 




CHEAP FEEDING-llOITEK. 



" Begin by taking off the lid and one of the 
sides, leaving the two ends, bottom, and one 
side remaining; then take the lid and cut a 
small strip off one of the ends so as it will slip 
in between the two ends of the box, placing the 
lower edge one and a half inches from the side 
and about an inch from the bottom ; the other 
edge of the lid is to be brought out so as to reach 
the top and outside comers of the ends. In this 
position it will form a deep angular box with a 
long aperture at the bottom. Two or three 
nails will secure it in this position. The lid 
now forming a slanting side, B, will be too wide 
and project beyond the ends ; cut the strip off 
and nail it across the bottom of the hopper so 
as to form a trough, C, where the corn, when 
put into the angular box, will descend through 
the long aperture down into it. Take then the 
side which you have not yet used, and with a few 
tacks and some old shoe-leather make hinges 
and put on the lid, A. The front or open part 
of the hopper has a paling or row, D, of slats or 
wire about two inches and a half apart, so that 
the fowls can just get their heads between to 
pick out the corn. These wires or slats should 
be brought out to the edge of the box, so that 
the fowls can but just reach the bottom of the 
angle or long aperture. The corn falls down 
as the fowls pick it away." 



74 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



Our next essay was to construct one after the 
plan below, which we had in use three or four 
years, and it answered a very good purpose for 
about seventy fowls. It is very simple and eas- 
ily constructed. The dimensions were as fol- 
lows : It was nine feet long and nine inches 
wide ; end pieces fourteen inches high, and the 
bottom raised six inches from the ground; the 
ends nailed to the bottom, and a strip of board 
four inches wide was firmly nailed on the sides, 
raised three inches above the bottom board, form- 
ing a manger or trough to prevent any waste of 
food. Another strip of board three inches wide 
was nailed on the top in front to secure the 
ends. The hopper to contain the grain was 
formed of two pieces of board, nine inches wide, 




BOT7KLE FEEDING-IIOPrEE. 



set between the ends forming a V, the upper 
edges lying against the front top strips and the 
bottom resting on some small blocks, from one 
to two inches high, sufficient to allow the grain 
to fall down as the fowls pick it away. It may 
be made to open and shut at the bottom to suit 
the different sizes of grain. The top or roof 
may be made of the same width as the box, or 
it may extend over the sides sufficiently to pro- 
tect the fowls from rain when feeding. Nar- 
row strips of lath must be nailed to the top and 
bottom pieces, leaving space enough between 
them for the fowls to enter their heads when 
eating. It is open on both sides, and one of this 
size is sufficient for seventy-five fowls. 

The following cut represents a feeding-fount- 
ain described in the "Transactions of the High- 
land and Agricultural Society" of Scotland. It 
is also figured in "Loudon's Encyclopedia of 
Agriculture." "It can be made to contain any 
quantity of corn required, and none wasted. 
When once filled, it requires no more trouble, as 
the grain falls into the receiver below as the 




F( 'OT< II FEEDIX'G-FOUNTAIX. 



fowls pick it away ; and the covers on that which 
are opened by the perches, and the cover on the 
top, protect the grain from rain, so that the 
fowls always get it quite dry ; and as nothing 
less than the weight of a hen on the perch can 
lift the cover on the lower receiver, rats and 
mice are excluded." 

As we did not exactly comprehend the prin- 
ciple upon which the above was constructed, 
we had one made, of which the following is a 
representation. We exhibited it at the fair of 







SELF-FEEDING IIOFPER, 



ACCESSORIES TO THE POULTRY-HOUSE. 




the New York State Agricultural Society, held 
at Albany in 1S42, which excited considerable 
attention, and was highly commended by the 
committee. 

This feeding-hopper is two feet square, the 
posts are eighteen inches high, and two inches 
square ; the upper section of the box is six inch- 
es deep, and the ends are morticed into or nail- 
ed to the posts. From the bottom of this square 
the tapering part of the grain-box reaches to 
within one inch of the 
floor, which should be 
raised on feet about six 
inches from the ground ; 
the grain-box tapers to 
one foot square, and to 
bring the grain within 
reach of the fowls, a 
cone, as shown at A in 
the annexed figure, is 
placed in the centre of the floor, and should be 
as much smaller than the funnel part of the 
hopper as to leave at least one inch space all 
around the cone which forces the grain to the 
edge, where, as the fowls pick the grain away, 
more will fall and keep a constant supply with- 
in reach of the fowls, as long as any is left in 
the hopper. The slats on the sides are intend- 
ed to prevent the fowls from getting into the 
trough or crowding one another. This hopper 
will hold about two bushels of grain, and if the 
roof projected one foot all round it, it would 
protect it completely from rain. It occupies 
but little space, and from twelve to sixteen fowls 
can feed at the same time. 

As we were constantly annoyed by the depre- 
dations of rats (some of the old patriarchs would 
not only help themselves bountifully, but actu- 
ally contend with, and drive the fowls from their 
food), in order to avoid their annoyance we 
had a feeding-hopper constructed after the fol- 
lowing plan, which is fully represented in the 
figure. 

Its construction is so simple, that a man or 
boy who can handle a' saw, a plane, and a ham- 
mer, with a few nails, could make one in a few 
hours, and it would cost but a trifle. 

We will now give directions for making one. 
Eirst make a platform three feet square ; then 



make a square box of inch and a quarter plank, 
three inches high and sixteen inches square; 




STOOL FEEDING-UOrrEE. 



nail this square in the centre of the platform ; 
saw four strips one and a quarter inches square 
for the posts, which should be about eighteen 
inches high ; nail strips of plank (which are not 
seen in the figure) two inches wide to the posts 
at top, to secure and steady them ; then take 
common sawed lath, or thin strips of board one 
and a half or two inches wide, and nail them to 
the top and bottom, up and down, leaving a 
space of two inches between each slat, which 
will enable the fowls to insert their heads to 
pick the grain. The roof may be formed four 
square, like the engraving, or it may be made 
flat, or pitching on two sides like the roof of a 
house, and should be detached, so that it can 
be raised when required to be replenished with 
grain. 

In order to make it proof against rats and 
mice, it will be necessary to elevate it at least 
three feet from the floor, if in a building, and 
this can be done by suspending it with wires 
at each corner and attached to the timbers or 
rafters above. The wires being small and 
smooth, the rats and mice could not pass up or 
down on them. If it is necessary to place the 
feeding-hopper in the yard, it, may It placed 
on a post three feet high, and firmly set in the 
ground, as shown in the engraving; the platform 



76 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



projecting so far from the post, it would be rath- 
er difficult for either rats or mice to climb up 
the post and on the under side of the platform. 

The fowls will soon learn to leap upon the 
platform, and feed from the grain-box between 
the slats. From ten to fifteen fowls can feed 
at the same time. 

In a late English work on poultry we find the 
following sectional drawings of a feeding-hop- 
per for grain, and a trough for soft feed. In 
the end view here represented, a is a flap or 






I 




a/ 


1 inclies. 





7 inches. 



END VIEW. 



hinged door to be opened and shut at pleasure ; 
b, a hinged cover, through which feed is sup- 
plied ; c, an incline, throwing the corn or other 
grain as wanted into the feeding-trough. This 
feeding-hopper will answer a very good purpose 
where there are no rats or mice ; but we can not 
perceive any advantage it has over the preced- 



n 


p 


u 


u 


L i 


% — 



ing plans : it can be opened and closed at the 
option of the persons who have the fowls in 
charge. 

Among all the plans for feeding-hoppers here- 
tofore described we think the following invention 
of our own the most perfect. It is not only 
rat-proof, but weather-proof, as we hope to show 
in the description. Where fowls are fed in the 
yard, particular attention should be paid to keep 
the grain dry. The hopper figured below is 
well calculated to accomplish that object. A 
is an end view, eight inches wide, two feet six 
inches high, and three feet long ; B, the roof 
projecting over the perch on which the fowls 
stand while feeding ; C, the lid of the receiv- 
ing manger raised, exhibiting the grain ; E E, 
cords attached to the perch and lid of the man- 
ger or feeding-trough ; I, end bar of the perch, 
with a weight attached to the end to balance 
the lid, otherwise it would not close when the 
fowls leave the perch; H, pully; G, fulcrum. 
The hinges on the top show that it is to be 
raised when the hopper is to be replenished. 

When a fowl desires food, it hops upon the 
bars of the perch, the weight of which raises the 
lid of the feed-box, exposing the grain to view, 



FRONT VIEW. 




PEKFECT FEEDING-IIOI'l'ER. 

and after satisfying its hunger jumps off, and 
the lid closes. Nothing short of the weight of 
a fowl will raise the cover. Rats are wary and 



ACCESSORIES TO THE POULTRY-HOUSE. 



77 



suspicious animals, and any little movement of 
the apparatus would frighten them away. As 
a precaution, however, it would be advisable to 
cover the door and edges of the trough with tin. 

This feeding-hopper may be increased by en- 
larging the diameter four inches, with another 
feeding-trough on the opposite side. In this 
case the end pieces of the perches may be cut 
off at the fulcrum, and one pin answer for both, 
and the lid loaded sufficiently to close after the 
fowls leave the perch. This may be done in 
part by covering the lid with tin, which would 
also prevent rats or mice from gnawing holes 
through the edges of the door. 

For feeding with soft food, such as boiled po- 
tatoes, mush, barley-meal, shorts, middlings, 
brewers' grains, etc., a feeding-trough like the 
following one would be found very useful. 

The trough should be two feet and a half 



When the hen is confined in a coop with her 
little family of chickens, they require consid- 




BABBEL FOUNTAIN. 




FEEDING-TKOUGU. 



long, eight inches wide, four inches deep, with 
lid of bars made to lift off at pleasure. It stands 
on feet, projecting six inches on each side, not 
only to prevent the trough being upset, but to 
keep the bottom dry. This being intended par- 
ticularly for moist food, the bars and upper part 
should be removable to allow for a daily scouring. 

WATER FOUNTAINS. 

There should, if possible, be running water in 
the yard, as fowls prefer clean, pure water ; and 
in order to prevent their drinking by chance 
what is bad or corrupted, wood, stone, or iron 
troughs, or what is much better, fountains sim- 
ilar to the two following. A small tube extends 
from the cask to a shallow dish or pan, which 
should be small, so that the fowls can not get 
into and soil the water. A jug, demijohn, or 
carboy may be substituted, and on some ac- 
counts the glass vessel may be preferred, as it 
can be more readily perceived when it requires 
replenishing. 



erable water, and if a vessel is deep the 
chickens are sure to get into it, and not only 
soil and contaminate it, but often get their 
down wet, which injures, chills, and fre- 
quently kills them. To remedy this, we 
■a\ adopted the following bottle fountain for the 
mother and her brood, which we found to 
answer admirably well. 
A very good fountain may be made by taking 
a thick piece of plank and scooping out one and 
a quarter inches, forming a shallow trough, and 
making a frame similar to the figure below, and 
inserting the neck of a bottle, the nozzle reach- 
ing to within three-fourths of an inch of the bot- 
tom of the trough. 




ISOTTLE FOUNTAIN. 



78 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 




JAPANESE WILD FOWL. 



CHAPTER IV. 



WILD EOWL. 



The wild fowl are at present restricted to 
India, Malay, Sumatra, Java, and possibly in 
other islands of the neighboring groups, as well 
as those scattered over the vast Pacific. How 
far to the west, in remote ages, some of these 
species may have spread we know not; some 
may have been distributed from India through 
Persia, even to Mongolia and Georgia, an- 
ciently Colchis, whence the Greeks derived the 
pheasant, which they found on the banks of the 
Phasis. 

The cock was supposed to be of Persian ori- 
gin by some authors ; but the period of their 
domestication is hidden in the remotest ages 
of the world ; it is shrouded in mystery. It is 
said that in the Island of Ascension, wild fowl 
may be shot like parti-idges. In the Australian 
colonies, too, that fowls not well looked after 
take to a half wild state in the bush, and even 
building in lofty trees. It has been suggested 
too, that fowls of the game breeds might be 
turned out into coverts where pheasants will 
not stay, and the same opinion has been made 



public by one of our numerous authors on 
poultry. 

The acquisition of the fowl species has not, 
in all probability, been an easy conquest ; to 
succeed in bringing them into complete bond- 
age, a long series of attempts and cares has 
doubtless preceded the success we now enjoy, 
without being acquainted to whom we are in- 
debted for them. The species has been since 
propagated and introduced into general use 
throughout the whole world, from east to west, 
from the burning climate of India to the frozen 
zone. They may be looked upon as a blessing 
to humanity. Among every polished nation on 
earth, and even among nations half-civilized, 
but united in stationary societies, there is no 
country habitation around which fowls more or 
less numerous are not met with, which man 
rears, shelters, and nourishes, and which are 
called cocks and hens. They are a species which 
art has almost entirely wrested from nature ; 
fowls are every where seen in a domestic state, 
and wild ones are scarcely to be found any 



WILD FOWL. 



7!) 



where : it is not long since it was positively 
known where the latter still exist in small quan- 
tities. 

Oliver de Serres says, " Among the moderns, 
I am the first that had seen fowls in a state of 
liberty. On my return from a first voyage to 
Guiana in 1795, I published a note on the sub- 
ject of the wild cock and hen, which I have 
every reason to think natives of the hottest 
countries of the new continent. In traveling 
over the inextricable forests of Guiana, when 
the dawn of day began to appear, amidst the 
immense woods of lofty trees which fall under 
the stroke of time only, I had often heard a 
crowing, similar to that of our cocks, but only 
weaker. 

" The considerable distance which separated 
me from every inhabited place, could not allow 
one to think this crowing was produced by do- 
mesticated birds ; and the natives of those parts, 
who were in company with me, assured me it 
was the voice of wild cocks. Every one of 
the colony of Cayenne who had gone very far 
up the country, give the same account of the 
fact. Some have met with a few of these wild 
fowl, and I have seen one myself. They have 
the same forms, the fleshy comb on the head, 
the gait of our fowls, only they are smaller, be- 
ing hardly larger than the common pigeon ; 
their plumage is brown or rufous." 

Some older travelers have spoken before of 
these wild fowl of South America. The Span- 
iard Acosta, provincial of the Jesuits at Peru, 
has positively said that " they existed there 
before the arrival of his countrymen, and that 
they were called, in the language of the country, 
talpa, and their eggs ponto. The ancient Mex- 
icans had reduced these small fowls to domes- 
tication ; they called them, as Gemell Carreri 
informs us, chiacchialacca ; and he adds, that 
they were similar to our domesticated fowl, ex- 
cept they had brownish feathers, and that they 
are rather smaller. A fresh testimony, that of 
a traveler who has been all over Dutch Guiana 
after me, is again come in support of facts al- 
ready certain. Captain Steadman has observed 
that the natives rear a very small species of 
fowls, whose feathers are ruffled, and which 
seem to be natives of that country." 



It is then an indisputable fact that a tribe of 
wild fowl, very much like our cocks and hens, 
exists in the inland parts of South America. One 
can not reasonably suppose that this tribe springs 
from birds of the same genus which Europeans 
have transported thither, since they are only 
met with very far from any inhabited place ; 
then there is a remarkable difference in the size 
of these and the common fowl; and, accord- 
ing to the assertion of Acosta, they existed in 
Peru before the arrival of the Spaniards. 

But a learned traveler, to whom ornithology 
in particular is indebted for many capital dis- 
coveries, M. Sonnerat, has again found the spe- 
cies of the wild fowl on the antique land of In- 
dia, in the mountains of the Ghauts, which sep- 
arate Malabar from Coromandel. More suc- 
cessful than other travelers, M. Sonnerat took 
home two birds, a male and female, of the In- 
dian tribe, and published a description of them in 
his "Travels to the Indies and China;" and he 
has taken them to be the primitive stock, whence 
have sprung all the tribes of our domestic fowl. 
He concurred in the opinion of Buflbn, that 
most of our varieties of domestic fowl have pro- 
ceeded from a single type ; and that the differ- 
ences which we perceive among them have re- 
sulted from accidents of climate, domestica- 
tion, and crossing of varieties. Sonnerat did 
not or would not know of any other species of 
wild cock than this — for he speaks slightly of 
the authority of Dampier, who mentions that he 
saw wild cocks in the Indian Archipelago ; but 
it is also admitted that the Bankiva species in 
Java, and the Jago species in Sumatra, more 
nearly approximate to our common fowl than 
that now under consideration, and to which 
Sonnerat refers. Upon the whole, it seems that 
our varieties of domestic fowl proceed from mix- 
tures of one general species. Practical observ- 
ers arrive at much the same conclusion on this 
point with scientific naturalists. It is thus, I'.n- 
instance, considered in India that our game- 
cock originated from a mixture of the jungle 
cock with the wild species in Malay and Cbitta- 
gong. Altogether, however, it must be admit- 
ted that, on this disputed point, very little is 
actually known, and the domestication of the 
bird ascends to such remote antiquity, that it 



80 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



seems hopeless to determine the era, and still 
more hopeless to ascertain the original species 
with precision. 

The following lively statement on this sub- 
ject is from " Excursions in India," by Captain 
Thomas Skinner, published in 1832 : 

"In some parts of the forests we saw several 
jungle fowl ; they have exactly the same habits 
as the domestic poultry. The cock struts at the 
head of his hens, and keeps a strict watch over 
their safety. Whenever they were disturbed by 
our attempts upon them, he flew to the high- 
est branch of some tree beyond our reach, and 
crowed with all his might, while his dames ran 
into holes and corners to escape our attacks. 
They are so cunning, that we found it impossi- 
ble to get within shot of them with all the cau- 
tion we could use. While intent upon captur- 
ing at least one, as we were creeping after them 
upon our breasts, lying occasionally like rifle- 
men under cover of the unevenness of the ground 
to catch them en passant, we came suddenly 
upon an ambuscade that very soon put an end 
to our sport. 

"We were about midway up the face of a 
hill that was thickly covered with trees, and 
much clogged by shrubs and creepers that wound 
in all directions. On reaching the foot of the ene- 
mies' position, still advancing upon our breasts, 
and bending a keen eye upon the birds strutting 
before us, up rose, with a growl that denoted an 
offended spirit (for we had really touched his 
tail), a huge black bear; and, turning round, 
looked us in the face with the most undisguised 
astonishment. It was the most unsought, as 
well- as the most unpromising introduction I had 
ever met with. There was no time for parley, 
and getting upon our legs, we at once stood 
on the defensive. This sudden metamorphosis 
completed his surprise, and yelling louder than 
before, he set off as fast as he could shuffle from 
the extraordinary animals that had so unac- 
countably sprung up before him. We determ- 
ined that ' discretion was the better part of 
valor,' and began to retrace our steps, leaving 
the jungle fowl to benefit by the interruption." 

It is seen by the foregoing description of the 
*»vild cock and hen of India, that the most strik- 
ing dissimilarity consists in the wild fowls hav- 



ing no comb on their head nor fleshy wattles 
hanging beneath the throat ; but this difference 
is not sufficient to make this tribe be considered 
as other than that of the common fowl, in which, 
as it is known, a very ancient subjugation, re- 
movals and multiplications in opposite climates, 
differences of food, have produced numberless va- 
rieties, which, from all appearance, came origin- 
ally from the wild fowl of the Ghauts. There 
grew besides, among common fowls, and chiefly 
in the tribe of tufted fowls, individuals whose 
head is without a comb, and the bill beneath 
without appendages. 

The reasons for believing the Bankiva fowl 
is the wild stock from which our tame varieties 
derive at least their main origin are, the hens, 
the nature of the feathers, and the form and dis- 
tribution of the barbs, which are absolutely the 
same in our tame fowls ; and because it is in 
this species alone that the females are provided 
with a comb, and small wattles, characters not 
found in any other of the wild species. 

"In point of size," say the authors of the 
" Poultry Book," " no less than the remote pe- 
riod at which we find reference to this bird, 
comes the ' Kulm cock,' sometimes called ' St. 
Jago cock.' The character of this inhabitant 
of the islands of the Eastern Archipelago and 
parts of the adjacent continent would seem to 
be far more suited to a state of domestication 
than we have reason to believe has been the 
case with other of the 'Jungle fowl,' properly 
so-called. It appears to have been reclaimed at 
the earliest period to which our knowledge of 
its native country extends, and in Europe, un- 
der the name of 'Malay fowl,' it shares the 
honor of a long pedigree with our oldest races. 
We have never seen a specimen of the wild 
bird, but all accounts unite in describing it as 
closely resembling the brilliant combination of 
chestnut, maroon, black, and yellow, that deco- 
rate the well-known Malay. 

"This noble bird frequently measures more 
than two feet in height, and Lieutenant-colonel 
Sykes had one Avhich was twenty-six inches. 
The comb of the cock is single, but slightly ele- 
vated, rounded at the top, and appears to term- 
inate abruptly; the wattles are small, and the 
throat bare, as in the Guinea-fowl. Plumage 



WILD FOWL. 



81 



of the hackle, head, and upper part of back, 
golden-reddish ; of the mid-back and lesser 
■wing-coverts, dark chestnut ; of rump, reddish- 
yellow. Tail very full, and, like the large wing- 
coverts, dark brilliant green ; breast and belly 
glossy greenish-black ; legs yellow. There is 
reason for believing that this bird is not only the 
parent of our Malay variety but also of the 
Shakebag. 

" The birds commonly spoken of as Jungle 
fowl consist of two distinct species, inhabiting 
different localities ; the Bengal Jungle fowl 
(there seems to be some confusion among writ- 
ers on East Indian ornithology with regard to 
the bird thus designated. Sir William Jardine 
considers the ' Bengal Jungle fowl' identical 
with the 'Bankiva,' while Mr. Blyth and the 
writer on poultry literature in the Quarterly 
Review, by whom he is quoted, clearly refer to 
them as distinct), found in the northern portion 
of Hindostan, and as far north as the sub-Him- 
alayan range, and the ' Sonnerat Jungle fowl, 
which seems to be limited to the more northern 
portion of the great Indian peninsula. 

" The ' Bengal Jungle fowl' resembles, in the 
general color of his plumage, the black-breasted 
Bed game-cock, while in size, he is intermedi- 
ate between that fowl and the Bantam. The 
tail in this, as we believe in nearly all the wild 
fowl, is carried nearly horizontally, a peculiarity 
which is only effaced by interbreeding for sev- 
eral generations with the vertical-tailed domes- 
tic fowl. It is also distinguished from all the 
other wild species by having a white face or 
cheek lappet, like the Spanish fowls. 

"In Europe, we see comparatively little to 
recall the form, and still less that repeats the 
habits of the Jungle fowls; and the following 
passage from the pen of Mr. Blyth, points dis- 
tinctly to the same state of things in India, 
where certainly we should most expect to wit- 
ness at least some signs or tokens of transition 
from the jungle to the yard : ' It is remarkable 
that the domestic poultry of India do not ap- 
proximate to the wild race in any respect more 
closely than the common fowls of Europe ; and I 
have sought in vain for traces of intermixture 
of jungle-fowl blood in districts where the spe- 
cies abound in a state of nature.' 



" Cross-bred birds between the Indian Jun- 
gle fowl and the English Game fowl are by no 
means uncommon. Mr. Thurnall has a high 
opinion of them as regards both their courage 
and appearance. The cock of the first cross, 
he tells us, carries his tail about half-way be- 
tween the game-cock and the pheasant; but most 
of his progeny carry theirs but a little lower than 
the true-bred game fowls. 

"By the kindness of this gentleman we are 
now in possession of a pair of these birds. The 
Bengal Jungle fowl is evidently the stock from 
which they have been derived, though faint 
traces only of his blood now remain. A son of 
a Bengal bird from a black-breasted hen was 
put with a brown-breasted hen, and these fowls 
were some of the progeny. There is little in 
the cock to distinguish him from a good red- 
breasted bird. The head, however, is remark- 
ably fine, and the intense maroon of his back 
and saddle remind one, on a close inspection, 
of the feathering of his wild grandfather. So 
greatly, however, have both feather and form 
merged into those of the game fowl, that these 
traces are by no means evident at first sight, 
though his descent is most fully authenticated. 

" Dr. Horner, of Hull, has most kindly com- 
municated to us the following particulars of 
some birds bred between the Game fowl and 
Sonnerat's Jungle fowl, which we have already 
referred to as inhabiting the southern portion of 
the Indian peninsula : 

" The cock is three-fourths pure Sonnerat, 
and as like the old Sonnerat cock as could as 
well be, only failing in not having the saddle 
feathers so perfectly laminated as the hackle. 
This laminated appearance may be compared 
to what is seen on the wing of the waxen-chat- 
terer; on each feather there should be two la- 
mina or scales ; these are pi-oduced by the flat- 
tening of the shaft of the feather; the hackles 
have two such plates, other feathers but one, 
though somewhat more prolonged than the for- 
mer. The color of the plating is a rich golden 
tint, somewhat sparkling and refulgent; some 
of the larger hackles are rounded at the ex- 
tremity. The tail, though carried less horizon- 
tally than that of the pheasant, lias the same 
general character. Its color is iridescent black ; 



82 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



the head is wholly red ; the eye shai-p, quick, 
and watchful ; but of the gorgeousness of the 
bird's plumage I can give no idea ; it is lustrous 
with gold and all the prismatic colors — a com- 
bination of a black-breasted red game-cock and 
the Chinese pheasant. His legs are red, spurs 
very sharp, crow harsh and short, between a gob- 
ble and a crow. He is very pugnacious, and 
thoroughly master of my Polands ; for although 
he appears soon tired, he never runs, and after 
catching his wind for a minute, begins again, 
and thus fairly tires out his adversary. But 
when victorious he is by no means intolerant, 
and of a most fatherly disposition toward his 
chickens. His weight is about three pounds. 
The hen, his grand- daughter through game 
mothers, exhibits a close resemblance to the 
feathering of the duck-wing, but of a sparer and 
still more delicate figure. She lays abundantly, 
the eggs being cream-colored — far richer than 
those of the common fowls. The chickens prove 
delicate, and are reared with difficulty, though 
tended with most unusual care by their male 
parent, who is constantly seen brooding them 
by night as well as day, in cold and unfavora- 
ble weather. 

" But in addition to these half-breeds between 
the Jungle fowls and the Game, the different 
varieties of the latter have themselves been so 
frequently intermingled, no less from a desire 
to check degeneracy than from the result of ac- 
cident, that the task of arrangement, as regards 
mere feather, presents difficulties of no ordinary 
character. Thus many are of opinion that we 
must look to the black-breasted reds as the orig- 
inal ■ progenitors of the whole race. But this 
theory is at variance with the permanent char- 
acter of some strains, where, throughout a long 
course of years, like has produced like without 
any material deviation in color or form. 

"But unwilling, as we certainly are, to give 
our assent to this theory, we should certainly be 
inclined to side with those who, selecting the 
black-breasted reds, the duck-wings, and the 
whites, regard these strains as sufficient to ac- 
count for the production of all our present sub- 
varieties. Whether the two former owe their 
existence respectively to the Jungle fowl and 
Sonnerat's, as many are of opinion, we are not 



prepared either to affirm or deny, though to 
prove the descent satisfactorily we should ask 
for further evidence than has yet been attaina- 
ble. The white birds are thought to be a dis- 
tinct race, and their continued alliance with the 
two former would explain the cause of many of 
those combinations of color, among the Piles es- 
pecially, which are often found as variable as 
they are undoubtedly beautiful ; and domestica- 
tion would certainly have sufficient influence on 
the descendants of each supposed cross to jus- 
tify our referring the whole game variety to 
these three ancestral stocks." 

Mr. Dixon's account of this same cross is at 
variance with the afore-mentioned description ; 
but the latter having been given from continued 
personal observation, we have no hesitation in 
thus laying it before our readers. 

We should imagine from these two accounts 
that the progeny of Sonnerat's cock would longer 
retain the feathering and characteristic of the 
wild bird than is found to happen with the off- 
spring of the Bengal Jungle fowls ; the greater 
brilliancy and variety of plumage would, of 
course, tend to this result. 

sonnerat's jungle fowl. 

This splendid bird, of which many specimens 
have long been in the Menagerie of the Zoo- 
logical Society, London, is celebrated for its 
high courage and prowess, and is in great re- 
quest among the cock-fighters of Hindostan, 
who consider it more than a match for a larger 
bird of the ordinary breed. Its port is erect 
and stately, and its form is admirable. In size 
this species is nearly equal to the domestic fowl, 
but is lighter, weighing but three pounds, and 
differing both in gait and carriage, as well as 
in shape, from all other poultry. The comb is 
only slightly indented ; the wattles are large 
and double, the hackles (though they scarcely 
come under this) of the neck, of the wing and 
tail coverts, dark grayish, with light golden or- 
ange shafts dilating in the centre and toward 
the tips into a flat horny plate. In some of 
the feathers the shaft takes an eliptical or oar- 
like shape ; in othei - s it puts on the appearance 
of a long inverted cone, from the centre of the 
base of which a battle-door-like process arises. 



WILD FOWL. 



83 




SONNERAT S JtTNGLE FOWL. 



The substance and appearance of these plates 
have been not inaptly compared with the wax- 
like plates which ornament the wings and tail 
of the Bohemian Chatterer. Feathers of the 
middle of the back, breast, belly, and thighs, 
deep rich gray, with paler shafts and edges ; 
tail generally rich green ; the feathers which 
immediately succeed the hackles are rich pur- 
ple, with a pale yellow edge ; those next in suc- 
cession are golden-green, with gray edges, and 
all glossed with brilliant metallic reflections ; 
bill, legs, and feet, yellow. The living bird 
presents altogether a rich and striking object, 
especially when the sun shines on the plu- 
mage. 

sonnerat's jungle hen. 

This fine bird is less than the cock, without 
comb or wattles, but with a trace of nakedness 
round the eye. The plumage generally is without 



the horny structure which distinguishes that of 
the cock, tipper parts uniform brown; neck 
feathers with dark edges ; those of the back and 
wing coverts with a pale streak along the shaft, 
and those of the wings; tail coverts and tail 
waved and mottled with darker pencilings ; 
throat and front of the neck white edged witli 
dark brown ; legs and feet bluish-gray. 

Sonnerat's Jungle cock is distinguished by 
the singular flattening of the shaft or mid-rib of 
the hackle and saddle feathers ; a laminated ap- 
pearance is thus obtained of extreme richness, 
these plates being of a bright golden-yellow. 

" In our chapter on Game Fowls," say the au- 
thors of the "Poultry Book," "we alluded to a 
cross between this bird and a game hen, die 
produce of which was in the possession of Dr. 
Horner, of Hull. The kindness of that gentle- 
man has since supplied us with some further in- 
formation, which has such immediate reference 



84 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 




SONNEEAT S JUNGLE HEN. 



to the subject of our present inquiries, the con- 
nection between the wild and domestic galli, 
that we now gladly lay it before our readers. 

" ' My Sonnerat cock,' says Dr. Horner, ' as I 
have learned from Mr. Hunt, chief superintend- 
ent of the aviaries at the Zoological Gardens, 
Regent's Park, was bred at those gardens, be- 
tween the true Sonnerat jungle fowl and a game 
hen. In size he is decidedly less than the game 
cock, weighing but three pounds, and differing 
both in gait and carriage, as well as in shape, 
from all other poultry. He is remarkably quick, 
showing great activity and alertness in all his 
movements. In his ordinary walk he is not so 
upright as the game — indeed, he has often some- 
what of a stooping manner ; his wings are droop- 
ing or carried low, which gives his back a rather 
rounded appearance, and showing off to advant- 
age its rich plumage ; the tail, also, is not car- 



ried so high as in other fowls. When at all ex- 
cited his gait and attitudes are light, graceful, 
and peculiarly alert. 

" ' The eye is particularly bright, sharp, a?id 
watchful ; the wattles, and the comb, which is 
serrated, are of moderate size; the whole side 
of the head is red and smooth. The feathers 
of the golden-colored hackles, of the neck, the 
larger of which are round or blunt at the end, 
and the fine, rich, dark-crimson feathers of the 
shoulders or saddles, have their shafts or mid- 
ribs dilated, in one or two parts, into horny- 
like plates, as seen on the wing of the Waxen 
or Bohemian Chatterer, and which are of an ex- 
ceedingly rich deep golden-yellow; giving to the 
plumage a very refulgent and sparkling appear- 
ance, especially when the sun shines thereon. 
The feathers of the breast and back are more 
pointed than in other poultry, and are of a 



WILD FOWL. 



sr, 



fine grayish color, lighter in the middle part, 
and fringed on the edges, some with grayish- 
white, others with various shades of yellow. The 
tail is of a shining greenish-black, the smaller 
feathers near its root being a rich refulgent pur- 
ple-green, and some of them are laced with yel- 
low ; the legs are of a red color. 

" ' As in mankind we often see true courage 
united with a gentle and amiable disposition, so 
it is in my hybrid Sonnerat, and that in a most 
remarkable degree. He is not only of a truly 
courageous but even of pugnacious disposition 
with other male poultry ; but to hens, of what- 
ever breed, even the Shanghais, he is kind and 
courteous, and to his own mate lavishly so. It 
is, however, in the extraordinary attentions to 
his chickens that his amiable and considerate 
conduct shines so peculiarly forth. Last year 
when his chickens were half-grown, and had 
long been discarded by their mother, he might 
be observed daily offering them in his beak all 
the delicacies he could select from the general 
food; nay, on occasions of a slight shower, or 
in cold winds, he frequently might be found with 
a pair of huge chickens hiding under his wings, 
which, by their size, were nearly lifting him off 
his legs. At night, one or more would invaria- 
bly so nestle ; keeping his wings apparently in 
no very comfortable position. 

" 'In recording the good qualities of the hy- 
brid Sonnerat according to my own experience, 
I should state them to be, the unequaled rich- 
ness of the eggs, their abundance, and the great 
beauty of the cock bird ; and in this example at 
least his amiability. 

" 'The eggs laid by the hen (his own grand- 
daughter through a game hen) are decidedly 
smaller than those of the game, and weigh less 
by rather more than a quarter of an ounce. The 
loss in size is, however, well compensated for 
by quality; they possess a richness and flavor 
unequaled, and which is at once recognized by 
every one. 

"'Mr. Hunt informs me that he considers 
there are but two cock birds in England really 
bred direct from the Sonnerat Jungle fowl, and 
which exhibit the peculiar golden plate on the feath- 
ers — the one at present (1853) in the llegent's 
Park Gardens, and my own. He also warns 



me of the difficulty of rearing chickens bred 
" in-and-in." I have accordingly added a game 
hen as a companion. Though the old birds ex- 
hibit considerable wildness in their look, yet a 
cockerel, raised last year, will daily take his food 
from my fingers, and his look is docile. 

'"My hybrid hen is less than the common 
game hen, and is of more delicate shape. She 
exhibits much of the color of the duck-wing va- 
riety, probably from her game parentage. The 
neck and breast are of very pale ochre.' 

" Mr. Blyth also states that he found the prog- 
eny between the Sonnerat cock and a domestic 
hen decidedly infertile." 

THE BANKIVA JTJXGLE FOWL. 

This beautiful species is the most diminutive 
of its genus, and the stock to which our own 
bantams are generally and with much probability 
assigned. It is a native of the Island of Java ; 
but a bird nearly allied to this, though some- 
what larger, is found on the continent of India. 
Writers, however, in the natural history of these 
countries, limit the designation Bankiva to the 
smallest fowl. "An account has been given of 
an imported pair of Bankiva fowl, from which, 
however, no progeny was obtained, either pure 
or from bantam hens, that were introduced into 
their aviary ; they retained their unsociable de- 
meanor to the last ; and after slaughtering sev- 
eral bantams that had been thus placed with 
them, they themselves at last fell victims to the 
superior strength of a game hen." Many spec- 
imens have been seen in the gardens of the 
Zoological Society in Eegent's Park, London. 

"Specimens of these fowls, male and female," 
says Dickson, "were brought from the Island of 
Java, by M. Leschenaust, and deposited in the 
Museum of Paris. They inhabit the forests ami 
borders of woods, and are exceedingly wild. On 
examining the species, it will be found to ex- 
hibit many points of resemblance with our coin- 
monbarn-yard fowls of the smaller or middling 
size. The form and color are the same, the 
comb and wattles are similar, and the hen BO 
much resembles the common hen, that it is diffi- 
cult to distinguish it, except by the less erect 
slant of the tail. The rise of the tail is much 
more apparent in the male; but it may be ob- 



80 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 




THE BANKIVA JUNGLE FOWL, 



served, that in all the wild species known, the 
tail does not rise so high above the level of the 
rump, nor is it so abundantly provided with cov- 
ering feathers, as in the common birds. Prob- 
ably the supei - abundance of nourishment, and 
the assiduous care of man, have contributed to 
the greater development of all their organs. Dif- 
ferent tame birds, indeed, such as the tufted 
fowl, the Hambuugh double-comb varieties, and 
others, show that domestication, probably on ac- 
count of superabundant feeding, produces infi- 
nite varieties. 

The Bankiva cocks very much resemble, both 
in form and color, the tame Turkish and bantam 
breeds ; but the tail differs in being nearly hor- 
izontal and vaulted in the Bankiva, while in the 
others it is more raised, and forms two upright 
planes meeting above, and diverging below. 



The feathers which fall from the neck over the 
top of the back are, as in other fowls, long and 
with divided plumelets or braids, the feathers 
widening a little and being rounded. The colors 
of the plumage are exceedingly brilliant. The 
head, the neck, and all the long feathers of the 
back which hang over the rump are of a shining 
flame-colored orange ; the top of the back, the 
small and middle coverts of the wings, are of a 
fine maroon-purple ; the coverts of the wings 
are black, tinged with iridescent green ; the 
quill feathers of the wings are rust-red on the 
outer, and black on the inner edges ; the breast, 
belly, thighs, and tail, are black and tinged with 
iridescent green ; the comb, cheeks, throat, and 
wattles, are of a more or less vivid red; the 
legs and feet are gray, and furnished with strong 
spurs ; the iris of the eye yellow. 



WILD FOWL. 



87 



THE BANKIVA JUNGLE HEN. 

The Bankiva hen is smaller than the cock ; 
and her tail is also a little horizontal and vaulted ; 
she has a small comb, and the wattles are very- 
short ; the space round the neck is naked as well 
as the throat ; and on this space are some small 
feathers, distinct from each other, through which 
the red skin can be seen ; the breast and belly 
are light bay, or fawn-yellow; on each feather 
is a small clear ray, along the side of the mid- 
rib or stem ; the feathers of the base of the neck 
are long, with disunited braids or plumelets, of 
a black color in the middle, and fringed with 
ochre-yellow ; the back, the coverts, the wings, 
the rump, and the tail, are earthy gray, marked 
with numerous black zigzags ; the large feath- 
ers of the wings are ashy-gray. 

The reasons for believing that the Bankiva 
fowl is the wild stock from which our tame va- 
rieties derive at least their main origin are, the 
close resemblance of their females to our tame 
hens, the nature of their feathers, and the forms 
and distribution of the barbs, which are abso- 
lutely the same in our tame cocks ; and because 
it is -in this species alone that the females are 
provided with a comb and small wattles, char- 
acters not found in any other of the wild species 
which arc known. 

A larger variety of the Jungle fowl, or per- 
haps a distinct species, is found on the continent 
of India, which closely resembles the black- 
breasted game breed of England. It tenants 
the jungles, and in some districts is very abund- 
ant. The plumage of the cock is as follows : 
The hackles of the neck and rump are long, and 
of a fine rich orange-red ; the greater coverts 
and secondaries deep blue ; the quills brownish- 
black, edged with pale reddish-yellow; tail black, 
with green and steel-blue reflections ; breast and 
under parts black; the comb, which is upright 
and deeplyindented, the marked space round the 
ey r e, and the wattles, are scarlet. The feathers 
of the neck are long, falling down, and rounded 
at the tips, and are of the finest gold color. It 
continues to reproduce, in the wild state, in the 
forests of India, and is clearly distinct from the 
domestic reared by the Hindoos ; as these re- 
semble, in all respects, the other tame breeds 



of fowls in every quarter of the globe. M. Son- 
nerat, however, thought very differently, and 
prided himself much on the discovery of other 
wild fowls in Timor and other Indian Islands. 
The jungle fowl, in a word, seems to be as dif- 
ferent from any known variety of our tame 
fowls, as a hare is from a rabbit, or a goat from 
a sheep, and the fact that a jungle fowl is not 
domesticated in its native country of India, 
while our barn-yard fowls are common there, 
seems to settle this question beyond any ap- 
peal. 

THE CEYLON JUNGLE FOWL. 

Some birds of extreme beauty and most 
unique appearance have been lately introduced 
into England, and are now in the possession 
of Mr. Bissell, of Birmingham. " We," say the 
authors of the "Poultry Book," "have to ex- 
press our thanks to that gentleman for the full 
description that he has favored us with, and 
which we can not do better than place before 
our readers in his ow r n words. The term ' Jun- 
gle' fowl, however, we should premise, would 
appear apt to mislead us in respect of their hab- 
its and character, since by that expression we 
are accustomed to denote the unreclaimed in- 
habitants of the Oriental forests, whereas the 
specimens in question appear to rival Shang- 
hais themselves in their quiet and contented 
demeanor. 

" ' The Ceylon fowls which I possess,' says 
Mr. Bissell, ' were imported direct from the 
island from which they take their name in the 
early part of 1852, by a gentleman of Bristol, 
and were exhibited by him at the show in that 
city in the following December. They attracted 
on this occasion considerable attention, and were 
justly considered among the most beautiful spec- 
imens that were then brought together. 

" ' Their general appearance has much of the 
Shanghai character; the points of excellence in 
the latter being still more fully developed, al- 
most, indeed, it might be said, to exaggeration, 
size alone excepted, for the cock weighs but 
four and a half pounds, and the hen is not quite 
four pounds. 

"'They are exceedingly tame and docile in 
their habits, and a three foot fence is at all times 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



sufficient to restrain them within prescribed 
boundaries. 

" ' There appears to be two distinct varieties of 
color — the one light, the other dark ; the former 
of these has a general resemblance to the body 
color of the silver-penciled Hamburghs, but on 
close inspection the markings of the feathers are 
found to differ materially, not only from the plu- 
mage of these birds, but likewise from that of 
any domestic fowl that I have yet seen. 




" 'The edge of the feather is margined or laced 
with white all round to the width of about one 
eighth of an inch, then comes a brownish-black 
inner line of about the same thickness, then one 
of white, while the centre of the feather is of 
the same dark hue, the shaft or stem being of 
a very clear white. 

'"Nothing, I can assure you, can be more 
beautiful or distinct than the plumage of this 
charming little hen — the very slightest bantam 
not being excepted. The cock does not mani- 
fest the same minuteness of marking, but nev- 
ertheless he bears quite as much similitude to 



the hen as will be found to exist in the Shang- 
hais, Game, Dorkings, and Hamburghs. 

'"The dark variety differs in color only, the 
hen being a light brown with dark markings, the 
cock a light red with markings of black. 

" 'The ineculiar beauty of the Ceylon fowl is 
certainly in their plumage, but the singularity 
of their form renders them objects of attraction 
and interest to the most casual observer. The 
head is neat and small; the comb single, up- 
right, and serrated; ear-lobe scarlet, thin, and 
projecting from the face; legs (which are ex- 
ceedingly short, so much so, indeed, that the 
feathers of the lower part of the body almost 
touch the ground) yellow, and free from feath- 
ers ; bill yellow ; wings short ; tail the same, and 
carried almost horizontally; thighs more fluffy 
than in the best specimens of Shanghais, and 
their general figure also of a much more com- 
pact and squarer build than in any specimens 
of the latter birds that I have seen or possessed. 

" ' The hen has both laid and sat this season, 
but as yet I have no produce ; she is a good 
layer as well as a good sitter, and I have no 
doubt would prove a good nurse ; and should I 
be so fortunate as to perpetuate the breed, there 
is little doubt that it would be generally acknowl- 
edged as among the most ornamental as well as 
useful of our poultry.' " , 

TILE FOBK-TAIL POW r L. 

This is another richly-plumaged native of 
Java, but seems to possess no tie that might 
connect it with our domestic race. 

This curious fowl was first described by M. 
Temminck, in 1818. It is nearly two feet in 
length to the extremity of the tail. The cheeks 
are bare, the head furnished with a simple entire 
comb, and the throat with a single large wattle, 
springing from the centre ; they are all light red. 
The head, neck, and upper part of the back are 
remarkable from the short and rounded form 
of the feathers, of a dark metallic blue. The 
hanging feathers are of a rich metallic green, 
tinged with steel-blue. The hill, legs, and feet, 
yellow. The hen has a circle round the eyes 
only naked, and of a livid tint. This bird is 
said to be very abundant in Java, and may be 
often seen during the day upon the edges of the 



WILD FOWL. 



89 



woods and jungles, but possesses the same dis- 
position of its co-genus and pheasants, and, upon 
the least alarm, runs to cover. They are not 
domestic, but they occasionally breed with the 
tame varieties — a curious fact, and showing the 
uncertainty with which the true origin is clouded. 

That many of our present breeds of fowls may 
have been derived from these four species, viz., 
Sonnerai 's Jungle fowl, Bankiva Jungle fowl, Fire- 
bached Jungle fowl, and Forked-tail fowl, we have 
little doubt ; but still these are not necessary to 
be regarded as the sole ancestors. The friz- 
zled and tailless fowls, for instance, are both 
said to exist in a wild state ; and the former es- 
pecially is thus spoken of as inhabiting the in- 
terior of Ceylon. Their origin can not be re- 
ferred to a mere lusus natures, and can hardly be 
assigned to any of the birds before mentioned. 
Should these, therefore, be thus distinct, why 
should a separate oi-igin be refused to other races. 

" In our experiments at the present day," say 
the authors of the "Poultry Book," "when we 
attempt either the domestication of the wild 
Galli, or cross them with the occupants of our 
poultry-yards, we find few instances where their 
untamed gharacter is so far subdued as has hap- 
pened with Dr. Horner's Sonnerat hybrid. In 
by far the majority of cases, not only in this 
country, but even in India, there appears so de- 
cided a repugnance to the redeemed state, that, 
if these were indeed the sole source from which 
the domestic fowl has been obtained, Ave are led 
to inquire by what process that, to us most dif- 
ficult feat, was ever accomplished. In two ways 
may this have been effected ; the first of which 
would rest on the supposition that, in times im- 
mediately succeeding the earliest records of our 
race, the birds that Ave noAv call jungle foAA'l AAere 
less indisposed to minister to the Avants of man- 
kind in a state of domestication, or else that one 
of their family, now no longer existing in a A\"ild 
state, became at once the Avilling companion of 
man, and subservient to his will. A similar 
theory has been employed with reference to the 
camel, of AA'hich no naturalist has yet discoA-ered 
any trace in an unreclaimed state, and some 
other members also of the animal kingdom seem 
to have at least approached the same condition 
of existence. 



"No positive conclusion, it is true, can be 
based on such a line of reasoning ; but it surely 
presents a path AA-ith fewer obstacles to our in- 
quiries than the idea that the present economy 
of any portion of the animal kingdom varied so 
greatly at any time from Avhat Ave noAv see to be 
its regular course, as an adherence to the notion 
that the natural habits of any beast of the field, 
or foAvl of the air, underwent so violent a change, 
must necessarily imply." 

The recent impetus that has been given to 
the study of poultry may throw fresh light on 
this interesting subject, especially by introduc- 
ing from their native abode the species of Avild 
foAvl to which Ave have alluded, or others that 
may still remain undiscovered in unexplored 
■AA'ilds, as yet untraversed by the foot of civilized 
man. 

THE FIRE-BACKED JUNGLE FOAVL. 

This noble species, which is intermediate be- 
tween the true jungle foAvls and the pheasant, is 
larger than the domestic game breed, and stands 
peculiarly high in its legs, Avhich are strong, and 
in the male armed with sharp spurs ; there are 
no long hackle feathers on the neck; and the 
head, adorned Avith a crest of naked shafted 
feathers, expanded at their tips into slender 
spreading barbs, is destitute of both comb and 
Avattles. The sides of the head from the base 
of the beak to the occiput, are covered with a 
naked purplish skin, encircling the eyes; the 
general plumage is black, shot with gleaming 
steel-blue ; the loAA'er part of the back is rich 
orange-red or flame color, and the color extends 
zone-like around the body ; but becomes obscure 
on the abdomen ; tail coverts broad, of a rich 
glossy bluish-green, with a paler bar at the tip : 
the four middle tail feathers, and the two cen- 
tral bending ones (which are really developed 
tail coA r erts in the males of the forest tribe) arc 
white, the rest black with green reflections. 

This foAvl seems to be an intermediate form 
or cross between the fire-backed pheasant of 
Sumatra and common foAvl. It is said to be a 
splendid bird, and might perhaps be domestica- 
ted. One of the remarkable characteristics of 
this fire-backed cock is the total absence of both 
hackle and saddle feathers; lie is also nearly 



90 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 




THE FIKE-BACKED JUNGLE FOWL. 



devoid of sickle-feathers, being intermediate be- 
tween those of the cock and the hen, the princi- 
pal feathers being nearly straight, and not in- 
clining to either side. 

Hybrids between the pheasant and common 
fowl are of frequent occurrence ; but are gener- 
ally considered to be unproductive among them- 
selves, all being half-bred, but when paired with 
the pheasant or the fowl, the case is different. 
A correspondent in the London Agricultural Ga- 
zette says, "After many trials of paired hy- 
brids, I have never brought up but two to be 
a'most hens, and they took the megrims (stag- 
gers), and died." And yet another writer in the 
same paper declares : "From what I have seen 



of the plumage of birds casually produced at 
the woodside (from crossing with pheasants), I 
believe a judicious and scientific selection would 
lead to the production of very fine varieties, and 
that, among others, the dark pheasant-plumed 
breed both of game or other fowl would reward 
the patient inquirer." 

In their general habits and manners, it is said 
they resemble their domestic relatives ; the cock 
proudly struts and leads his train of females, and 
vigilantly watches over their safety. On being 
suddenly disturbed the troop scatter in all di- 
rections, seeking safety under covert of the dense 
brushwood. In spots where they are numerous, 
the challenging of the cocks to each other may 



WILD FOWL. 



91 




THE FIKE-BACKED JUNGLE HEN. 



be heard on every side around, and yet such is 
their cunning and keenness of sight, that the 
sportsman, unless he is well acquainted with 
their habits, is often disappointed in his attempts 
to get a fair shot. 

THE FIKE-BACKED JUNGLE HEN. 

The hen has her plumage of a rich cinnamon- 
brown, the feathers of the upper parts being 
slightly mottled with black ; the throat is white, 
and the feathers of the under parts, which are 
paler than those of the back, are edged with 
white ; head crested ; tail folded as in the 
fowls. 

This species is a native of Sumatra, and was 
first introduced to science by Sir G. Staunton, in 
the narrative of his " Embassy to China." His 
host at Batavia, among other interesting speci- 
mens of natural history, possessed one of these 
birds, which was presented to Sir G. Staunton ; it 



was sent to England and described by Mr. Shaw. 
As its tail was mutilated, the figure is so manage d 
as to leave the form of the tail undetermined. 
The bending feathers of the tail are shorter and 
much broader than those of the Bankiva, Son- 
nerat's, or the domestic fowls. 

THE AUSTRALIAN JUNGLE FOWL. 

Mr. Gould, an English naturalist, in his able 
work on the "Birds of Australia," gives an in- 
teresting account of this bird, which in size is 
about that of a common fowl, and must not be 
confounded with the Jungle cock of India, a very 
different bird. Its mode of constructing its 
mound-like nest, and its manner of depositing 
the eggs, etc., very much resemble those of the 
bush turkey (Talegalla), hereinafter described. 

" The Jungle fowl," Ave learn, <; is almost ex- 
clusively confined to the dense thickets imme- 
diately adjacent to the sea-beach; it appears 



915 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 




AUSTRALIAN JUNGLE FOWL. 



never to go far inland, except along the banks 
of creeks. It is always met with in pairs or 
quite solitary, and feeds on the ground, its food 
consisting of roots, which its powerful claws 
enable it to scratch up with the utmost facility, 
and also of seeds, berries, and insects, particu- 
larly the larger species of Coleoptera. It is at 
all times a very difficult bird to procure ; for al- 
though the rustling noise produced by its stiff 
pinions when flying away be frequently heard, 
the bird itself is seldom to be seen. Its flight 
is heavy and unsustained in the extreme ; when 
first disturbed it invariably flies to a tree, and 
on alighting stretches out its head and neck in a 
straight line with its body, remaining in this posi- 
tion as stationary and motionless as the branch 
on which it is perched ; if, however, it becomes 
fairly alarmed, it takes a horizontal but labori- 
ous flight for about a hundred yards, with its 
legs hanging down as if broken. I did not my- 
self detect any note or cry, but from the natives' 
description and imitation of it, it much resem- 
bles the clucking of the domestic fowl, ending 
with a scream like that of the peacock. 

" The head and crest of the bird is of a very 
deep cinnamon-brown ; back of the neck and 
all the under surface very dark gray ; back and 
wings cinnamon-brown ; upper and under tail 



coverts dark chestnut - brown ; tail blackish- 
brown ; bill reddish-brown, with yellow edges ; 
tarsi and feet bright orange. It appears that on 
Mr. Gilbert's arrival at Port Essington his at- 
tention was attracted to numerous great mounds 
of earth which were pointed out to him by some 
of the residents, as being the tumuli of the 
aborigines. The natives on the other hand as- 
sured him that they were formed by the Jungle 
fowl for the purpose of hatching its eggs ; and 
so it afterward proved. One of these mounds 
is described as fifteen feet high, and sixty in 
circumference at the base, and so enveloped in 
thickly foliaged trees as to preclude the possi- 
bility of the sun's rays reaching any part of it." 

The list of wild fowls has now been gone 
through ; a short reference, therefore, to these 
races that have been commonly regarded as the 
progenitors of our poultry-3-ard, will complete 
this portion of our labor. 

Eirst, in point of size, no less than the re- 
mote period at which we find reference to this 
bird, comes the Gallus Giganteus of Temminck, 
the Kulm cock or Jago fowl of other natu- 
ralists. The character of this inhabitant of the 
Eastern Archipelago and parts of the adjacent 
continent would seem to be far more suited to 
a state of domestication than we have reason to 



WILD FOWL. 



93 



believe has been the case with others of the "Jun- 
gle fowl" properly so called. It appears to have 
been reclaimed at the earliest period to which our 
knowledge of its native country extends, and in 
Europe, under the name of the "Malay fowl," 
it shares the honors of a long pedigree with their 
oldest races. We have never seen a specimen 
of the wild bird, but all accounts unite in de- 
scribing it as closely resembling the brilliant 
combination of chestnut, maroon, black, and yel- 
low, that decorate the well-known Malay. 

This noble bird, the Kulm fowl, frequently 
occurs more than two feet in height, and Lieu- 
tenant Sykes had one which was twenty-six 
inches. The comb of the cock is single, but 
slightly elevated, rounded at the top, and ap- 
pears to terminate abruptly ; the wattles are 
small, and the throat bare, as in the Guinea-fowl. 
Plumage of the hackle, head, and upper part of 
the back, golden-reddish ; of the mid-back and 
lesser wing coverts, dark chestnut ; of rump, red- 
dish-yellow. Tail very full, and like the large 
wing coverts, is a dark brilliant green ; breast 
and belly glossy greenish-black ; legs yellow. 
There is reason to believe that this fowl is the 
parent of our Malay variety. 



The birds commonly spoken of as Jungle fowl 
consist of two distinct species, inhabiting dif- 
ferent localities ; the " Bengal Jungle fowl," 
found in the northern portion of Hindostan, and 
as far north as the sub-Himalayan range, and 
the " Sonnerat Jungle fowl," which seems to be 
limited to the more southern portion of the great 
Indian peninsula. 

The Bengal Jungle fowl resembles in the gen- 
eral color of his plumage the black-breasted red 
game-cock, while in size he is intermediate be- 
tween the fowl and the bantam. The tail in 
this, as we believe in nearly all the wild galli, 
is carried horizontally, like the Australian jun- 
gle fowl, a peculiarity which is only effaced by 
interbreeding for several generations with the 
vertical-tailed domestic fowl. It is also distin- 
guished from all other wild species by having 
a white face or cheek lappet, like the Spanish 
fowl. 

Sonnerat's jungle cock is distinguished by 
the singular flattening out of the shaft or mid- 
rib of the hackle and saddle feathers ; a lamin- 
ated appearance is thus obtained of extreme 
richness, these plates being of a bright golden- 
yellow. 




94 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



CHAPTER V. 



ASIATIC FOWLS. 



Under this head we class the Malay, the Co- 
chin-China, the Shanghai, and the Brahmapu- 
tra. These fowls all take their names from the 
country and rivers of their nativity. There is 
some difference in the orthography of the name 
of the latter, some spelling it Brahma Footer, 
Brahmaputra, Burrampootra. We shall adopt 
the second, and abbreviate it for convenience' 
sake to Brahma. 

The Malay fowl takes its name from a town 
or province of that name, situated on the Straits 
of Malacca, in the most southern portion of 
.Asia. 

Cochin, from which the Cochin-China fowl 
derives its name, is a sea-port-town in south- 
eastern Asia, on the coast of Malabar. 

Shanghai is a port in China, from which many 
of the Asiatic fowls are shipped ; hence the 
name of " Shanghai" is given them. 

Brahmaputra, whence the name of the fowl is 
derived, is a great river of southern Asia. 

During the last twelve years many importa- 
tions of fowls have been made from India, Chi- 
na and elsewhere, that are much superior in 
size, laying qualities, and in their general do- 
mestic habits to our common fowls. Among 
the Asiatic fowls the Shanghais have occupied 
a prominent position ; not, however, as the best 
among us, as many have contended, but as a 
fowl in many respects superior to our common 
breed. 

The Brahmas are generally acknowledged 
to be at the head of the list in regard to size, 
weighing at maturity from twenty- two to twen- 
ty-six pounds per pair. 

There seems to be considerable difference of 
opinion as to whether the Cochins and Shang- 
hais are varieties or distinct breeds. " There 



is a doubt," says the Rev. Mr. Wingfield, author 
of the " Poultry Book," " which had better be 
removed from the very threshold, usually con- 
veyed in the question — 'Are Cochin-China and 
Shanghai fowls the same?' We have always 
entertained the opinion that they are ; and as 
we have invariably found that fowls imported 
from China into this country, whether feather- 
legged or plain-legged, whether dark-plumaged 
or light-plumaged, came hither, directly or indi- 
rectly, either from Shanghai or its vicinity, we 
have long since concluded that Cochin-China is 
a name altogether misapplied in this variety. 
This conclusion amounts to conviction, since 
we have received a letter from Mr. Roland For- 
tune, who passed so many years in various parts 
of China, in which he says: 'The man who 
first gave these fowls the name of Cochin-China 
has much to answer for. I firmly believe that 
what are called Cochin- Cliinas and Shanghais 
are one and the same. One thing is certain — 
the breed you have in this country as Cochin- 
Chinas are plentiful about Shanghai. They were 
discovered after the Avar, and were frequently 
brought to this country, and taken to India, by 
captains of trading vessels. Was not this the 
date of their introduction to England? And 
what grounds has any one for supposing the 
fowls ever saw Cochin-China?' We thought 
this variety might have been earlier known, ow- 
ing to our long-established commerce with Ma- 
cao and Canton, but Mr. Fortune says that it is 
a breed but little known in those warmer parts 
of China, and that 'in fact, the southern Chi- 
nese were as much struck with the size of the 
breed as we were.' He adds, 'The Shanghai 
breed seems to be more common about Shang- 
hai than any where else in the north ; but I 



ASIATIC FOWLS. 



found it all over the low country of that part 
of China. The southern breeds have been 
long well known to ship captains and English 
residents ; but there is nothing very marked in 
their character.' 

" We have already stated that we do not be- 
lieve that there are any grounds for the belief 
that this variety ever saw Cochin-China; and 
we think, with Mr. Fortune (for this question 
is indicative as well as inquisitive), that they 
were introduced into this country soon after the 
more northern parts of 'The Celestial Empire,' 
such as Shanghai, were thrown open to our trad- 
ers, at the conclusion of the Chinese war, in 
1 843. At the poultry show held at the Zoolog- 
ical Gardens in the May of 1845, there were 
prizes especially devoted to 'Malay and other 
Asiatic breeds ;' but these brought to the exhi- 
bition no other Oriental variety than Malays, 
and, we may add, that at that time Shanghai 
fowls were unknown to the Society. In fact, 
we shall be near the truth if we assign 1S45 as 
the year in which they were first imported. It 
was in that year that her Majesty received speci- 
mens of them, which she exhibited at the Show 
of the Royal Dublin Agricultural Society, in 
April, 1846. Even in 1847, Mr. Walter Dix- 
on, in his volume on 'Poultry, their Breeding, 
etc.,' does not mention this variety. Mr. Moody, 
of Droxford, in Hampshire, obtained his first 
Shanghai fowls in 1847; and Mr. Sturgeon, of 
Grays, Essex, accidentally became possessed of 
his stock during the same year. From the above 
mentioned stocks, with admixtures from fresh 
importations, have been derived the yards of 
Shanghais now becoming so numerous. 

"Mr. Sturgeon gives the following details: 
' The history of my Cochins is a very absurd tale, 
and full of ill-luck, or perhaps carelessness — a 
term for which ill-luck is often substituted. I 
got them in 1847, from a ship in the West India 
Docks. A clerk we employed at that time hap- 
pened to go on board, and, struck by the appear- 
ance of the birds, bought them on his own re- 
sponsibility, and at what I, when I came to hear 
of it, denounced as a most extravagant price — 
some six or eight shillings each ! .Judge of my 
surprise, after my extravagance, when I found 
a younger brother had, immediately on their ar- 
G 



rival, killed two out of the five, leaving me one 
cockerel and two pullets ; nor was my annoy- 
ance diminished on hearing him quickly remark 
that they were very young, fat, and heavy, and 
would never have got any better ! The cock 
shortly after died, and, beyond inquiring for an- 
other, which I succeeded in obtaining shortly 
after the original died, together with a number 
of hens which reached this country under pecul- 
iar circumstances, I personally took but little 
interest in them till the eve before their depart- 
ure for Birmingham in 1850. Neither my broth- 
er nor myself, before we obtained these birds, 
had taken any particular interest in poultry, and 
why we came to prefer the light-colored birds 
remains a mystery to me ; but so it was, for to 
Mr. Punchard, and to all others, we parted with 
none but the smaller and darker-colored birds. 
I have often laughed at the dreadful passes my 
own famous breed has been reduced to, and 
the very narrow escapes it has had of utter ex- 
tinction — first the attack of my brother already 
narrated; then the death of the cock; and in 
the third year, the desperate incursions of some 
mischievous greyhound puppies, who killed one 
morning five young birds just as they were get- 
ting feathered, besides many more on different 
occasions. Our birds all came from Shanghai, 
and were feather-legged. It is to the cock of 
the second lot that I attribute our great success. 
I have had fifty others since, in four or five lots, 
but not a bird worthy of comparison with my 
old ones, or that I would mix with them.' 

"Having thus traced out the date of intro- 
duction and the place whence derived, let us 
next inquire something of the characteristics 
and treatment of the birds as they occur at 
Shanghai itself; and here Mr. Fortune again 
comes to our aid. In the letter already quoted 
he says, 'The Shanghai breed occurs both witli 
feathered and unfeathcred legs, but more fre- 
quently unfeathered. The most admired kinds 
there are the game-colored ones. Many of 
them are much like the pheasant of the coun- 
try ; indeed, we used to think that crosses were 
often produced between the pheasant and the 
fowl, as the former were often seen feeding with 
the latter. However, I am safe in saying that 
the Chinese do not attach so much importance 



98 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



as we do to purity of color ; large size and large 
eggs are what they most admire and prize. 

'"The Chinese are not particularly careful in 
managing their poultry. They feed them in 
the same way as our cottagers do in the country ; 
that is, the birds are allowed to get as much as 
they can for themselves, and I need scarcely tell 
you they are not very particular. When the 
Chinese housewife feeds them, she generally 
gives them paddy ; that is, unhusked rice.' 

" It being certain that the true Shanghai fowl 
is met with in its native district with plain legs, 
even more frequently than with legs feathered, 
or booted, as it is technically termed, the point 
often disputed is now settled, as to whether this 
is any demonstration of a distinct breed. Hence- 
forth it must be held to be a mere matter of taste ; 
and as we have seen plain-legged Shanghai fowls 
superior in every important character to those 
feathered on the legs, we think that it would be 
well to have distinct classes for them at our 
poultry shows. 

" Mr. Fortune's testimony settles another dis- 
puted point. It is very evident that, except as 
a matter of taste, the light-colored should have 
no pre-eminence over the darker plumaged ; and 
those societies have acted judiciously who have 
given separate prizes of extra value to all the 
sub-varieties of color." 

Characteristics. — The pullets of all Asiatic 
fowls begin to lay at five months old. The 
eggs are small at first but they are numerous, 
where liberal feeding and good shelter are pro- 
vided. The egg of the hen averages about 2-1 
ounces; it is rounded almost equally at each 
end, so that its shape may be strictly described 
oval— an expression, notwithstanding its deri- 
vation, that is by no means applicable to the 
eggs of some fowls. In color it varies from dif- 
ferent shades of buff to a tint approaching cin- 
namon, and the shell is unusually strong. The 
attractive color probably induces the belief that 
the egg is peculiarly rich, but this argument on 
their behalf we must leave to individual taste ; 
but much may probably depend on the quality 
of their food. 

It is not uncommon for the Asiatic hen to lay 
eggs with double yolks ; they are unproductive, 
and it is useless to attempt hatching them. 



THE MALAY FOWL. 

This is one of the giant tenants of our poultry- 
yard for which we are indebted to tropical lati- 
tudes, and which, though natives of such a con- 
stantly torrid climate, have the power of endur- 
ing, uninjured, temperatures so varying, so cold, 
and so trying as our own. 

This is undoubtedly descended from the Kulm 
or Gigantic cock, which is a native of Java, Su- 
matra, and probably, all other parts of Southern 
Asia. Colonel Sykes found the Kulm fowl do- 
mesticated in the Deccan ; but he believed it 
was there introduced from Sumatra by the Mus- 
sulmans. He imported two cocks and a hen 
into England in June, 1831. They bore the 
winter uninjured ; the hen laid freely, and by 
September, 1832, she had reared two broods. 
One of these cocks measured, when standing 
erect, 26 inches to the crown of his head. In 
comb, colors, and other points, they resemble 
the Malay ; the hen was one-third smaller than 
the cocks. 

It is still found in the islands named. Trav- 
elers inform us that it is kept in a domestic 
state not only in India, but in the Malay penin- 
sula, in Cochin-China, and China, from whence 
they are now occasionally imported. It has 
long been known in Europe and America. It 
is unquestionably the parent stock of the kinds 
now known under the names of India, Java, St. 
Jago, Chittagong, Cochin, Shanghai, and Brah- 
ma, and in some parts of America as the Pucks 
County and Ostrich fowl. 

Previous to the introduction of the more quiet 
Chochin and Shanghai, whoever required size 
resorted almost of necessity to the Malay blood, 
and a cross of it probably prevails in all the 
larger breeds. The trifling differences which 
appear in the kinds mentioned, Martin attrib- 
utes to the influence of domestication and acci- 
dental crosses. 

But a few years ago, the Malay formed a feat- 
ure in most collections of any extent; and it is 
hoped they will not be lost sight of in the pre- 
vailing taste for Shanghais, Chochins, and Brah- 
mas, as they are beyond doubt, taking size, ap- 
pearance, carriage, and all into consideration, 
the most majestic fowl we have. 




MKMINGIIAM PRIZE MALAY OOCK. 



ASIATIC FOWLS. 



99 




TIIE MALAY FOWL. 



Martin gives the following description of the 
Malay fowl : " The male in his natural atti- 
tude often considerably exceeds two feet in 
height, from the ground to the crown of his 
head. The comb extends backward in a line 
with the eyes ; it is low, thick, destitute of ser- 
rations, and has the appearance as if its ridge 
had been cut off. The wattles hanging from 
the under mandible are small, and the throat 
is bare. The neck is long and covered with 
hackles of pale golden-reddish color, which ex- 
tends to the upper part of the back. The mid- 
dle of the back, and the lesser wing coverts are 
of a deep chestnut, and the webs of the feathers 
disunited ; the greater wing coverts are glossy 
green ; the secondaries and quill feathers are of 
a pale reddish-yellow on their outer webs. The 
hackles of the rump are long and drooping, and 
are of a pale reddish-yellow. The tail feathers 
are of a glossy green. The under parts are gen- 
erally of a glossy greenish-black, with high re- 
flections, each feather being of a deep chestnut 
at the base, producing somewhat of a mottled 
appearance, especially if the plumage be a little 
deranged. The body is stout and the legs are 
long, but very robust. In proportion to the size 
of the body, and length of the neck and limbs, 
the head seems small, and is far from being 



pleasing in appearance, the curtailment of the 
comb and wattles seeming of the result of in- 
jury or malformation. The gait is heavy and 
destitute of alertness, and the bird, as we have 
frequently seen, often reposes resting on the 
tarsi or shanks, their whole length being applied 
to the ground. The attitude is uncouth, and 
gives the idea of the bird being oppressed witli 
its own weight. It is very probable that this 
gigantic fowl is less disposed to mount the trees 
and roost on the branches than most others of 
the genus ; and this strange attitude may be the 
ordinary mode of taking i - est. The crow of the 
cock, instead of being a clear ringing tone, heart- 
ily delivered as if in defiance of every rival, like 
the blast of the knight's clarion on the listed 
field, is short, hoarse, and monotonous, more 
like a croak than a crow." 

We agree with the author just quoted, that 
the stock represented by the figure of the prize 
Malay cock on the opposite page, shows the 
greatest purity, and indicates the least departure 
from the original. The breed in its pure state 
is generally not handsome, either in form or 
plumage, and its flesh is coarse and wanting in 
flavor. 

The usual height of the Malay cock is from 
2G to 28 inches, and it weighs about ten pounds. 



100 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



The weight of the prize cock, figured, was Ill- 
pounds. A cock raised in Dublin, is stated to 
have weighed alive, without being fattened, 13 
pounds. 

The disposition of both cocks and hens is stat- 
ed, by some writers, to be very pugnacious ; and 
some have ceased keeping them, because, among 
other causes, they found the cock excessively 
quarrelsome, and cruelly disposed toward his 
chicks. Other writers represent him as pro- 
fessing but little spirit and courage ; yet a vari- 
ety of the race is game. 

Dickson thinks it very probable that the Dork- 
ing originated by a cross between the Malay and 
game fowl. A writer in the " Scottish Quarterly 
Journal of Agriculture," is of the same opin- 
ion. 

A breed was established in England about 
seventy years ago by the Duke of Leeds, called 
the " Shake-bag" breed, which obtained great 
celebrity for the strength and prowess of the 
cocks. Martin observes that this breed was 
probably formed by a cross with the game-cock ; 
the male frequently weighing over ten pounds, 
and to his great strength is added spirit and de- 
termination. This breed is now thought to be 
extinct. It was sometimes called by authors 
" Shack-back," or " Shag-bag" breed ; but Mar- 
tin says that it was formerly the practice in cock- 
fighting to challenge all comers with the cock 
concealed in a bag — the tremendous power of the 
Duke of Leeds fowl proved so superior to those 
of all competitors, usually securing conquest, it 
eventually attained the name, par excellence, of 
" Shake-bag," which was corrupted to the other 
terms. 

Varieties and Crosses. — The varieties differ 
chiefly in the color of their plumage, with some 
deviation in height. The most worthy of notice 
is the white Malay. The plumage, both in cock 
and hen, is purely white, but the neck-hackle 
and saddle-feathers are tinged with yellow. They 
are smaller than the brown variety. 

There is a light brown variety, in which the 
cock is light chestnut, spangled with black and 
dark chestnut ; the neck-hackle, rump, and sad- 
dle-feathers are of a light reddish-brown ; the 
tail feathers not finely tapering as in the dark 
variety, but broad and very long. The hen's 



plumage inclines to uniform buff, but rather 
darker on the back. 

Of the cross breeds there is the pheasant 
Malay, which is supposed to be a cross with the 
Malay and Golden Hamburgh, or some other 
of the small varieties of domestic fowl. The 
cock resembles closely the pure Malay in its 
head, but the neck-hackle is black with green 
metallic lustre ; breast and rump black ; tail not 
strongly sickled, and legs white. The hen has 
bluish ear-lobes ; neck-hackles black with me- 
tallic lustre ; rump feathers partridge colored, 
spangled with dark brown, and the shaft of each 
feather yellowish ; legs white ; tail dark brown, 
and held upright ; breast light brown, spangled 
with black or very dark brown. 

The marking in the breast of the hen, from 
somewhat resembling those on the plumage of 
the cock pheasant, occasioned the suggestion 
that they are a cross between this bird and the 
Malay hen. It is, however, an error, and the 
best mode of defacing the mistake would be to 
change the name to Spangled Malay. 

The Chittagong fowl is strongly suspected 
to be a cross between the Malay and the Dork- 
ing. They are usually penciled or spangled 
gray in plumage ; but they have occasionally 
been seen with a mixture of yellow or brown 
upon the feathers ; they have the Malay head 
and " expression of countenance," but with more 
of the ample breast of the Dorking ; and their 
legs are somewhat white but not rarely yellow. 
A mistake is sometimes made by the owners 
of light-broAvn Malays, who from the spangled 
breast of the cock have thought them not pure 
Malays, and have thence been induced to call 
them Chittagongs. 

Character as Layers.- — The hen lays a moderate- 
sized egg, averaging about 2-1- ounces in weight. 
The shells usually are slightly colored — a pale 
chocolate. The size and color, however, vary, 
pullets of last year laying eggs equal in size to 
those of any description of duck ; and hens two 
or three years old laying an egg very little 
larger than a good-sized bantam's egg. Another 
writer observes, " The eggs are of good size, and 
of a rich huff or brown color, and are much 
prized by the numerous epicures who believe 
that this hue indicates richness of flavor — a fact 



ASIATIC FOWLS. 



101 



which has not yet been made sensible to my 
own palate." 

They are not remarkable as prolific layers, but 
still, if well fed, they certainly are of an average 
merit in this respect. They seldom lay more 
than twelve or fourteen at a litter. Upon an 
average there will be fewer unproductive eggs 
among a given number than among the same 
number laid by any other ben under the same 
treatment. The outer shell is oftentimes very 
thin, and the under skin so tough and unyield- 
ing, as in numerous instances to strangle the 
chick in its birth. Dr. Kittridge says they are 
good layers, eggs very large, and batch well. 

The Malay hen sits closely and well, failures 
in the number of her brood rarely arising from 
any defect on her part. She is exceedingly at- 
tentive to her chickens ; but it is necessary to 
watch her for the first few days after hatching, 
lest her great weight and long legs might crush 
any of her progeny while small and weakly. 
Such accidents, however, may be generally pre- 
vented by giving her an abundance of room. 

Like those of the Shanghais, the chickens 
feather slowly, on which account no brood should 
be hatched after June ; otherwise the cold and 
variable weather of autumn comes upon them 
before they are half grown, and the increase of 
their bodies has so far outstripped that of their 
feathers, that they are half naked about the neck 
and shoulders, which renders them extremely 
susceptible of wet and cold. The chickens are 
not difficult to rear, but are gawky, long-legged 
creatures until they have attained their full 
growth, and then fill out or " square up." 

THE COCHIN FOWL. 

Until recently very little, if any thing, was 
known of the Cochin breed of fowl. No men- 
tion is made of them in any of our early pub- 
lications on poultry. The first notice of them 
we find in the London Illustrated News of 1 844. 
The writer says : " Her Majesty's collection of 
fowl is very considerable, occupying half a dozen 
very extensive yards, several small fields, and 
numerous feeding-houses, laying-houses, winter 
coverts, etc. It is, however, in the new fowl- 
house that the more rare and curious birds are 
kept, and to these we shall confine our attention. 



The Cochin fowls claim the first consideration. 
These extraordinary birds are of a gigantic size, 
and in their proportions very nearly allied to 
the family of bustards, to which in all probabil- 
ity they are proximately related — in fact, they 
have already acquired the name of ' Ostrich 
fowl.' In general color they are of a rich glossy 
brown ; tail black, and without side feathers ; 
in the breast a horse-shoe marking black ; the 
comb double. Two characters appear to be pe- 
culiar to them — one, the arrangement of the 
feathers on the back of the cock's neck, which 
are turned upward ; and the other, the form of 
the wing, which is jointed to fold together, so 
that on occasion the bird may double up its 
posterior half and bring it forward between the 
anterior half and body. The eggs are of a deep 
mahogany color, and of a delicious flavor. These 
birds are very healthy, quiet, attached to home, 
and in every respect suited to the English cli- 
mate. In order to promote their propagation 
her Majesty made presents of them occasionally 
to such persons as she supposed likely to appre- 
ciate them." 

Their origin was traced to a country situated 
in the southern part of China, to a country 
the name of which they bear. Though they 
evidently belonged to the genus Gallus, it was 
even doubted whether they were really fowls. 
Their supposed specific affinities with the .Fire- 
backed pheasant were even sincerely discussed. 

Of this much lauded fowl Mr. Dixon says : 
"Whether the breed now under consideration 
did really come from Cochin or not, is probably 
known only to the party who imported them, if 
to him. But they certainly have been cultivated 
in this country previously to their recent intro- 
duction to general notice as the most conspicu- 
ous ornaments of the lloyal poultry-yard. A 
gentleman living in Monmouthshire, informs 
me that, nearly thirty years ago, a friend sent 
him a cock and hen of the true 'Java breed.' 
The cock was so fine, large, and handsome, that 
he was immediately made 'Cock of the Walk.' 
The present stock on the farm, which I have 
seen, are entirety descendants, and arc true 
Cochin fowl; so that, in this case, Java and 
Cochin, are synonymous. The first parents of 
this lot came direct from India. Bui fn in 



102 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 




QUEEN VICTORIA S COCHIKS. 



whatever Oriental region derived, it is a most 
valuable variety, and the only fear is that state- 
ments of its merits have been set forth so highly 
exaggerated, that they must lead to disappoint- 
ment, and cause the breed to be as much unde- 
servedly underrated as it has been before fool- 
ishly exalted. 

" They differ very little in their qualities, hab- 
its, and general appearance, from our (later in- 
troduced) Shanghais, to which they are undoubt- 
edly nearly related. The egg is nearly the same 
size, shape, and color ; both have an equal 
development of comb and wattles, the Cochin 
slightly differing from the Shanghais chiefly 
in being somewhat deeper and fuller in the 
breast, not quite so deep in the quarter, and 
being usually smooth-legged, while the Shang- 
hais generally are more or less heavily feath- 
ered. The plumage is much the same in both 
cases. The cock's comb is usually single, erect, 
serrated, and of a brilliant scarlet, but not al- 
ways single ; the wattles are large ; the hackles 



on the neck and hips yellowish -brown ; the taM 
black, with metallic lustre, and when fully fiu- 
nished presents the usual cock's plume ; the legs 
vary from a flesh-color to an orange-yellow, and 
are not so long as in the Malay ; the eggs «re 
buff-colored, of large size, and blunt at bo'th 
ends ; the chickens progress rapidly in size, bM 
feather slowly." 

Another writer describes the Cochin cock ars 
having a large, upright, single, deeply indented 
comb, very much resembling that of the black 
Spanish, and when in high condition, of quita 
as brilliant a scarlet ; like him also, he has a 
very large ear-lobe or ear-cheek. This is not 
an indispensable, if even a required qualification ; 
it is, however, to be preferred, for beauty at 
least, if not as a mark of pure breed. The wat- 
tles are large, wide, and pendent. The legs are 
of a flesh-color ; some specimens have them yel- 
low, which is objectionable. The feathers on 
the breast and sides are of a light chestnvit- 
brown, large and well defined, giving a scaly or 



ASIATIC FOWLS. 



103 



imbricated appearance to those parts. The 
hackle of the neck is of a bright yellowish-brown ; 
the lower feathers being tipped with dark brown, 
so as to give a spotted appearance to the neck. 
The tail feathers are black, and darkly irides- 
cent ; back, scarlet orange ; back hackle, yellow 
orange. It is, in short, altogether a flame-col- 
ored bird. Both sexes are larger in the leg, in 
proportion, than the Spanish or Malay. 

YELLOW OK BUFF COCHINS. 

Mr. G. P. Burnham, of Boston, communicates 
the following in reference to two importations 
of Cochin fowl by him in 1850. He says, "I 
obtained two lots of these fowls — one batch of 
six, from J. J. Nolan, of Dublin, and the other 
direct from Canton. The prevailing color of 
my birds is yellow, or yellowish-brown pullets, 
and yellow and red, or yellow, red and brown 
cocks. They have not deviated from this range 
of color except in two or three broods out of the 
dark Canton cock. The chicks come even in 
size and plumage ; and down to the third gen- 
eration they have bred exactly the same; this 
is a very satisfactory result, in my estimation. 
I have never yet seen a black, a gray, a white, 
or a speckled chick from this stock. 

" For all purposes of a really good domestic 
fowl, whether I speak of productiveness, easy 
keeping, laying qualities, size, disposition, beau- 
ty of form and plumage, or hardiness (in this 
climate), after a careful comparative trial, I deem 
the Cochin the best. And to my fancy r they have 
no equals among the varieties now known in 
America." 

The merits of the Cochin are such that it 
may safely be recommended to persons residing 
in the country. For the inhabitants of cities it 
is less desirable, as the light tone of its plumage 
would show every mark of dirt or defilement, 
and also the readiness with which they sit would 
be an inconvenience, rather than not, in fami- 
lies with whom everlasting layers are most in 
requisition. 

There is considerable difference in the fowls 
called Cochin, some of which are loose-jointed, 
crane-like concerns, with legs long enough to 
step over a pretty high fence ; these are a dis- 
grace to the tribe. Many persons owning fowls 



of this description have, after a short trial, dis- 
carded them, and justly conclude that there is a 
great deal of "gammon" in the "hue and cry" 
about fancy poultry. 

Cochin fowl have for a few years been slowly 
recovering from the undeserved neglect into 
which they were cast, when it was found they 
were something less than a good horse or Dur- 
ham cow. They were unfairly treated ; they 
were made things of speculation rather than 
utility: an ideal standard was set up ; real solid 
advantages were set at naught for imaginary 
wants ; they Mere unnaturally forced and fed 
till they were useless, save for exhibition, and 
incapable of laying. Lately, however, they have 
been improving in quality and form. 

The hen approaches in her form more nearly 
to the Dorking than any other, except that the 
tail is very small and proportion ably depressed ; 
it is smaller and more horizontal, I think, than 
any other fowl. Her comb is moderate-sized, al- 
most small ; she has also a small white ear-lobe. 
Her coloring is flat, being a compound of various 
shades of very light brown, with light yellow on 
the neck. Her appearance is quiet, and only 
attracts attention by its extreme neatness, clean- 
ness, and compactness. 

The eggs are smooth, of an oval shape, nearly 
equally rounded at each end, of a rich buft' color, 
and average about two ounces each. The newly- 
hatched chickens appear very large in propor- 
tion to the size of the eggs. They have light 
flesh-colored bills, feet, and legs, and are thickly 
covered with down of a carroty-brown. They 
are not less thrifty than other chickens, and 
feather somewhat more uniformly than either 
the Malay or black Spanish. A peculiarity in 
the cockerels is, that they do not show even the 
rudiments of their tail feathers till they are 
nearly full grown. They increase so rapidly in 
other directions, that there is no material to 
spare for the production of the decorative ap- 
pendages. The pullets are less backward in 
shooting their tails; and the distinction alone 
is sufficient to denote the respective sexes at a 
very early age. The young cocks are later than 
others in coming to crow. 

Reverting to the habits and dispositions of 
these birds, we can not describe them by two 



10-1 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 




YELLOW OR BUFF COCHINS. 



epithets more appropriate than that they are the 
most domestic and amiable of all the varieties 
of poultry. They are exceeded by none in their 
attachment to their own house and yard, from 
which they never wander far even when their 
liberty is unrestricted ; and in gentleness they 
are unequaled. Both sexes will soon have suffi- 
cient confidence to feed out of the hand of any 
one with whom they are acquainted ; and the 
hens will allow their chickens to be taken from 
beneath them with little resistance beyond a re- 
monstrant cluck. No birds are more confiding 
under kind treatment, yet no others seem so 
willing to set about making themselves com- 
fortable even under adverse circumstances. In 
a confined space all other varieties show their 
sense of restraint by irritated movements and 
sedulous research for an outlet; while the Co- 
chins will quietly repair to some corner, and ei- 
ther by their repose or peering occupation give 
evidence that they purpose to make all things 
as pleasant as possible. Yet let no one suppose 



that they are without becoming high spirit. In 
defense of their young, in buffeting intruding 
poultry, in firmness of purpose when desirous 
of sitting, no hens can be more exemplary. No 
cocks come forward more gallantly to repel the 
trespassing Lothario ; and none are more gen- 
erous in giving precedence to the ladies at feed- 
ing times than these natives of the Celestial 
Empire. 

THE SHANGHAI FOWL. 

The Shanghai fowl in its varieties is highly 
esteemed by many, and considered the best of 
the Asiatic breed. The first imported into this 
country was in 1847. 

In enumerating the most important points of 
beauty and excellence in the Shanghai fowl, w» 
will begin with the hen. 

The hen should have a slightly curved beak-, 
the forehead well arched ; comb low, single, erect, 
and slightly and evenly toothed; wattles small 
and curved inward ; eyes bright and prominent, 



ASIATIC FOWLS. 



105 




SHANGHAI FOWL. 



with an expression tempering the whole of moth- 
erly patience and contentment. The neck about 
eight inches long, and should be gently arched 
when held upright, and the head held at right 
angles with it. The body, from the neck to the 
origin of the tail feathers, should be long and 
greatly arched ; and the girth of the body, meas- 
uring over the wings and before the legs, should 
be, in the best specimens, about twenty inches. 
Wings well rounded outward, so as to increase 
the apparent diameter of the body ; their shoul- 
der well nestled in beneath the breast feathers, 
and the quill feathers short, buried under the 
mass of feathers which encompass the base of 
the tail. This mass of feathers is very peculiar, 
arching from the back to the tail, and sloping 
off so as to form a slight elevation round the 
sides, as it does round the base of the tail. The 
leg is rather long ; color pale yellow with a tinge 
of flesh-color, and generally thickly feathered 
quite down to the toe on the outer side. The 



plumage is remarkably soft and silky, or rather 
downy, termed by some as fluffy, and beneath 
the tail densely fluffy and rounded. We have 
chosen the hen as being most uniform in her 
make and coloring. The eggs are generally of 
a pale yellow or cinnamon color, not remarka- 
bly large compared with the size of the fowl, and 
generally blunt or rounded at both ends. The 
fertile qualities of this breed are considered 
equal to any other of the large breeds. The 
flesh of the Shanghai is rather inferior to the 
smaller breeds, being coarse-grained, neither 
tender nor juicy, and have more offal and less 
breast-meat than either the Cochins or Brahmas. 
Their habits are quiet and they are not inclined 
to ramble, on which account they bear confine- 
ment better than any other breed. 

The gait of both the cock and hen, when 
walking slowly, is peculiarly precise and digni- 
fied and graceful, but when hurrying, it is a heavy 
rolling waddle. 



106 



THE AMEEICAN POULTEKEK'S COMPANION. 



BLACK SHANGHAI SUB-VARIETIES. 

The sub-varieties of the Shanghai fowl are 
known as the buffs, yellow, cinnamon, white, 
gray, black, and partridge-colored. 

The authors of the "London Poultry Book" 
say " the whole class of Shanghai fowls, taken 
collectively, constitute, properly speaking, but a 
variety of the species. "We may here, howev- 
er, probably be excused if, adopting its more 
popular meaning, we use the word ' sub-variety' 
to describe those more minute divisions into 
which every sort of poultry becomes in process 
of time separated. 

" It is proposed to devote a few pages to a de- 
scription of the several breeds or sub-varieties ; 
to point out the comparative merits ; and to give 
the best description in our power of each ; the 
object being to enable the intending fancier to 
make his choice with facility, to assist his im- 
mature judgment in the selection, and, perhaps, 
to suggest to his more experienced brother-am- 
ateur the means of improving his stock by a ju- 
dicious intermixture of blood, instead of con- 
tenting himself with breeding on with his old 
strain, or, being aware of the benefit of a cross, 
contenting himself with the first which may offer 
itself. Adhering to this outline, we will sup- 
pose we are passing with the reader through a 
show of Shanghais, and discussing the merits 
and demerits, comparatively, of the several sub- 
varieties, as they are usually classed by their 
colors ; and that we may not appear to give 
undue precedence to any, let us take them in 
the order of their several shades. 

" The White, which are not yet very widely 
diffused, have sold for great prices, probably on 
account of their comparative scarcity. The 
greater part of them are traceable to the breed 
of the Dean of Worcester and Mr. Herbert of 
Powick; although other imported specimens, 
of which the writer himself possesses one, have 
been introduced. In country districts, where 
they have a nice lawn or clean fields to run, 
they are very beautiful birds ; but in the neigh- 
borhood of a town, we need not say they do not 
shine. Like all other white varieties of fowls, 
we do not consider them quite so hardy, or as 
easily reared, as those of a darker hue ; nor do 



they usually attain the weight of some of the 
other varieties. There are, however, many ex- 
ceptions to this. Mr. Bowman has kept this sub- 
variety in considerable numbers, and does not 
consider them more difficult to hatch or to rear 
than those of darker colors. We must remem- 
ber, however, that Mr. Bowman lives in one of 
the mildest districts of England. We believe 
them to be equally prolific, and their appear- 
ance will, no doubt, render them favorites with 
the ladies. 

"grat shanghai. 

" There is a Gray sub-variety — or rather white 
— with penciled hackles and flake tail, which 
afford a pleasing contrast, and are altogether 
exceedingly pleasing to the eye, when kept clean, 
and which (especially the cocks) attain a good 
weight. Of these we have seen but few speci- 
mens, and we have reason to believe that they 
are also yet scarce. We have also seen some 
mottled most uniformly all over with white and 
gray, so as to entitle them to be distinguished 
as the Cuckoo Shanghais. They were, however, 
of weedy growth, long-legged, and not of at- 
tractive appearance, even if certainly not of 
mongrel origin. 

"The next color comprises the different shades 
of biff and yellow, and this is the favorite class, 
partly because it is exceedingly neat and pretty 
in its appearance, and partly because it has been 
ever sedulously cultivated, but most of all on 
account of its including, beyond doubt, a larger 
number of birds of first-rate quality, in other re- 
spects, than any other sub-variety. For these 
reasons we may be allowed to devote to its de- 
scription a little more space than we may be 
able to spare for each of the other colors. 

"BUTE SHANGHAI. 

" Of the Buffs, the cocks vary from a dark 
ginger or red, to a light or yellow buff. The 
former have the neck, hackle, and saddle of a 
bright orange-red ; the saddle-hackle feathers 
are orange-crimson, and the rest of the body a 
dark buff or bay, without any black, except the 
tail and perhaps some of the quill feathers of 
the wing. The yellow Bvffis more of a lemon 
color, but without white feathers, which give a 




LKMOX 81IANUI1AI HF.N AND COOK. 



- 



ASIATIC FOWLS. 



107 



mealy appearance by no means pleasing. The 
hackles are of a bright golden yellow; the sad- 
dle and outside of the wings a shade darker, but 
still yellow ; and the rest of the body a beauti- 
ful uniform light buff, except the tail, which is 
black. Black markings in the hackles are by 
some judges thought to be equally objectionable 
in each. The buff hens vary from a dark fawn 
to a light color, almost a canary color ; and the 
nearer they approach the latter shade the more 
they are esteemed. The color should be as uni- 
form as possible ; but we do not object to a slight 
necklace or dark marking in the neck hackle, 
and the tail is usually black. We may hint to 
breeders that it is from the yellow cocks, rather 
than from the reds, that they may expect to 
breed of the light or canary shades. 

"cinnamon shanghai. 
"The Cinnamons, ranging from a sort of very 
pale reddish-brown to a dark chocolate, form 
the next class of shade. The cocks of this va- 
riety are usually by no means so handsome in 
their plumage as the Buffs ; the greater portion 
of the feathers of their wing-coverts being of a 
plum color — light or darker, as may be — and 
the hackles of a duller yellow; but we have 
seen some most beautiful birds, varying from a 
Vandyke-brown to orange-madder. The hens 
are much prettier, some of those of a uniform 
light cinnamon hue being as neat in their ap- 
pearance, and matching as well, as the Buffs. 
They are, however, for the most part wanting 
in that fineness and gloss of feather, known to 
amateurs as ' quality,' which usually distinguish- 
es the Buffs from all their competitors. 

" PARTRIDGE-COLORED SHANGHAI. 

" Some of the partridge and grouse colored 
sub-varieties, which follow next in order, and 
with which Mr. Punchard has carried off, and 
deservedly, many prizes, are extremely pretty, 
and match well in shade and general appear- 
ance. The cocks are what are called black- 
reds — that is, they have a black body with red 
or yellow hackles (each hackle-feather being 
marked with black down its centre), and crim- 
son back and wing-coverts. The hens are beau- 
tifully and very uniformly penciled, and ap- 



proach, we think, when well bred, nearest in 
' quality' of feathering to the Buffs. 

"BLACK SHANGHAIS. , 

"Besides these, are the Blacks, of which so 
few have been exhibited that we believe them 
to be as yet scarce. Several have been im- 
ported ; but we have reason to suppose that a 
large majority of those now in England have 
been bred between the White and Buff varie- 
ties. Some of the best that we have seen have 
their sires of the former color, while their moth- 
er was a buff bird. From thirteen eggs ten 
dusky chickens were produced, which in due 
time severally assumed the following garb : Two 
pullets were wholly black ; two pullets and three 
cockerels with more or less golden hackle, and 
markings on the wings; while the remaining 
three were very darkly penciled birds altogether 
dissimilar to any Shanghai that we had previ- 
ously seen. The hatching of subsequent nests 
of eggs gave a very similar proportion of col- 
ors. 

" A curious variety of the Shanghai race is oc- 
casionally met with, of which the plumage re- 
sembles that of the Silk fowl in texture, while 
the colors are buff and fawn. It is usually of 
smaller size, and from this singularity has ob- 
tained the name of the ' Emeu fowl,' from its 
similarity to the 'wooly' coat of that Austra- 
lian bird. We are not aware of its possessing 
any points of merit or excellence beyond its rela- 
tives, and we therefore leave it, with the mere 
mention of the strange garb that has obtained 
for it its present name. 

" Model Shanghai. — A Shanghai to please us 
must have a stout curved and yellow beak, with 
plenty of substance at the base, and the shorter 
the better. The outline of the head should seem 
to be round in the hens when looked at from 
the side, and when the eye catches the comb 
and wattles ; and we like just so muclK-omb of 
a fine quality as will stand up and give that ap- 
pearance of roundness. In the cock the comb 
will be larger; but the most careless observer 
will easily note the great difference of quality — 
some races showing a close and smooth texture 
delicate as a lady's hand, and others a roughness 
which might more properly be compared to the 



108 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



outlines of the outer rind of a horse-chestnut. 
The eye should be red and full, for beauty and 
for use ; it gives a nice brisk look to a sufficiently 
quiet bird, fcarmonizes better with the general 
color, denotes more constitution, and is less lia- 
ble to disease. The neck can not be too short, 
nor the body too long, deep, and broad ; nor the 
shank and tail too short. The true carriage of 
the body both in the cock and hen, should be 
drooping forward, and with the hinder parts con- 
sequently raised. A great depth from the base 
of the neck above, to the point of the breast- 
bone with its weight of flesh, tends to produce 
this form, and to show to advantage the fluff 
and feathers peculiar to the Shanghai. The 
length of the breast-bone is to be desired and 
looked to. With this form all will appreciate 
the neat head, short neck, and broadness of the 
back, continued from across the wings to the 
tail; and that redundant supply of feathers im- 
mediately before the tail, that gives the broad 
square look that distinguishes the high-caste 
birds, and which makes their tails apparently so 
short. The small compact wing will accompany 
these qualities, and with that a peculiar bunch 
of feathers. On the back, before the tail, will 
be found a profusion of feathers, and that fiufF- 
ness about the thighs and about and under the 
tail and the hinder lower parts of the body, that 
forms with the feathered legs one of the chief 
characteristics of the race. Too much import- 
ance can not be attached to straight, well-boned, 
short shanks ; and if you want appearance, 
weight, and constitution, they mustbe wide apart. 

" In neither cock nor hen do we like to see the 
tail sticking up, but forming a nice agreeable line 
with the back, or very slightly elevated, and 
terminating in a nice soft but somewhat longer 
and drooping feathers in the cock ; the whole in 
the hen, from the feathers around it, wearing a 
much shorter appearance. A tinge of red on 
the back of yellow legs, stout, and short, suits 
us best. In forming a standard for Shanghais 
we ought to insist on those points that are pe- 
culiarly theirs, and to discountenance those that 
in any way imply the possibility of an admix- 
ture with another breed. 

" The Shanghais are the most domestic, amia- 
ble, quiet, and peaceable of all the varieties of 



poultry. They are exceeded by none in their 
attachment to their own house and yard, from 
which they never wander far, even when their 
liberty is unrestricted ; and in quietness they are 
unequaled. They have the reputation of being 
good layers, and careful sitters and mothers ; and 
what is very important, the chickens are hardy, 
easy to raise, and less liable to be affected by 
disease than those of many other breeds. In 
short, as layers they are unequaled, laying when 
quite young, and in the coldest days of winter, 
as well as the finest days of spring. Notwith- 
standing their great egg-producing powers, we 
very much doubt whether they are as profitable 
as some of the other breeds, as the Dorkings, 
the Spanish, the Hamburgs, or the humble and 
unpretending Dominique, it being conceded that 
it takes much more feed to keep them. For 
the table, they are inferior to all the above men- 
tioned. They are a breed which is capable of 
much improvement, and should remain two or 
three years longer in the hands of the fancier 
or professed breeder. 

" These breeds, it is supposed, have been cre- 
ated or propagated by the Chinese for a special 
purpose, and are the result of long and persever- 
ing efforts on their part, in the same way and by 
the same means that choice breeds of cattle have 
been obtained with a particular end in view — 
some for taking on precocious fat — others for 
milk, etc. The object the Chinese had in view 
in rearing this description of fowl was for capon- 
izing. His mammoth height and lank propor- 
tions are just what are required for making a 
capon, weighing, when fifteen or sixteen months 
old, twelve pounds or over. If he is notcaponized, 
and kept the length of time he ought to be — for 
a shorter period will not bring him to perfection 
— but is killed as a chicken, in the same way 
our common breeds are, he is not worth as much 
as the latter. This is the experience of those 
who have long kept the Shanghai breed. How 
can this long, bony carcass compare with that of 
our common game breeds, with compact, hand- 
some forms — the Dominique, for instance, or 
even that of our common barn-yard fowls — as 
all these are ready for killing at an age when 
the Shanghai is a mere ill-formed, gawky, big 
chicken. But caponize him, and keep him the 





mi' ' . y. : <'4\ 



::j 




'n 




ASIATIC FOWLS. 



Ill 



requisite time, as is the case in his native land, 
and you see perfection ; his mammoth form and 
lengthy proportions are filled in with flesh and 
fat — a wonder and a pleasure to look at. 

" However, utility should precede beauty, and 
in the estimation of many ' handsome is that 
handsome does,' and here the Shanghai fowl 

, will not be wanting. As has before been said, 
they are excellent layers, and arrive at maturity 
earlier than any other large-siaed fowl, the 
Cochins excepted. By the term ' maturity' is 
meant the age at which a bird will commence 
laying eggs, and thus perpetuate its race. They 
will also prove hardier than most other fowls — 
except the game breed. They will also improve 
the general race of farm-yard poultry by judi- 
cious crossing. The pullet from the cross be- 
tween a Shanghai hen and Dorking cock, pos- 
sesses, in an eminent degree, the special quali- 
ties of both. It grows up rapidly and to a large 
size. The yellow legs of the Shanghai are 
often displaced by the white foot of the Dork- 
ing, and moreover, the flesh is almost as juicy 
and as good as the last-named bird ; while when 
alive, it produces more eggs than the Dorking, 
of equal size, and of a richer color." 

The introduction of the Shanghai fowls is a 
national benefit, for the farmer who keeps Shang- 
hai hens and Dorking cocks will always be sure 
to have good-sized fowls, and a good supply of 
eggs, at a time when most needed for the market. 
But let him beware of breeding from this cross ; 
for as sure as the young mongrels would chirp, 
so sure would they reverse the excellent proper- 
ties of their parents. 

Now let us hear the other side. A writer in 
the American Agriculturalist says : "I next tried 
the Shanghai, and of all the breeds of fowls I 
ever saw tried, I think them the most abom- 
inable, unprofitable, and unsightly brutes ever 
introduced into the poultry-yard. They are 

• gross feeders, making for the same food, and in 
the same space of time, less than any breed 
with which I am acquainted. The chickens are 
never chickens, in an epicurean sense of the 
word ; not filling out the first year, but the 
growth being expended in the bone and stature ; 
and when fatted, if, indeed, they do ever get fat, 
I have found the meat coarse and dry. I have 



not found their laying qualities so vastly supe- 
rior to other breeds. 

"We are averse to all large overgrown ani- 
mals. We never knew a big hog, or ox, but 
had cost more than he come to, in making him 
grow up to his size. So with big fowls ; and 
in reply to a Shanghai friend afflicted with de- 
clining purse, we have given it as our opinion 
that two, like the Game and Dorking, will sus- 
tain and keep in a better condition more flesh 
and feather, on the same food, than one, on a 
pair of gouty stilts under a modern Chinaman. 
And, too, careful comparison, deduced from the 
realities of cause and effect, teaches us that, as 
scratching is one of the elements of good living 
to a cock, the smaller breeds, in this particular, 
have greatly the advantage over the automaton 
monsters of the poultry-yard. With bountiful 
crops and good seasons they may do ; but give 
us a Dorking or Game for the spit — a Bantam 
to crow — a Guinea-fowl for eg*gs, and we will 
give up all the giant fowl fancies to those who 
choose to indulge in them." 

It was the Shanghai which created the "Fowl 
Fever" a few years since, and it was on the 
shanghai that the bubble burst. They are no 
longer the aristocracy of the fowl-yard ; their 
day has passed, their race is run. 

BRAHMA FOWLS. 

To the banks of the Brahmaputra — a river that 
waters the territory of Assam — are we indebted 
for the fowls bearing that name, lately intro- 
duced into this country. 

The first appearance of the Brahma fowls 
was in the city of New York, in the possession 
of a sailor, who sold them to a mechanic of 
that city, who again sold them or their prog- 
eny. 

The editor of the Northern Farmer says, " The 
origin of the Brahma fowls can never be traced 
farther than has already been developed, true 
or fabulous, and at this day it is quite useless to 
attempt to arrive at any new facts pertaining 
thereto. We profess to know about as much in 
regard to their origin as any one, having heard 
the views and statements of all parties from the 
beginning to the present day. We, therefore, 
are prepared to make the following state- 



112 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



ments, and we challenge any man to prove us 
in error. 

"First. That no Brahma fowls have ever been 
imported into the United States or any other 
country from China or Asia, since the alleged 
importation of three pairs to the city of New 
York in 1850, from one of which it is alleged 
all the Brahma fowls have originated, now in 
this country or England. 

"Second. That no such fowls are known to 
exist in China and Asia at the present time. 

"When we say Brahma fowls, we do not 
mean gray Shanghais, as it is quite probable that 
certain 'gray fowls' have been imported from 
China, and we refer to fowls with cream-colored 
white bodies, dark wing, and tail tips — and neck 
hackle with the same hue. 

" It is of no consequence now how they orig- 
inated, as a knowledge of that matter can not 
change them in the least ; but it is certain that 
a pure Brahma*fo\vl was never seen in England 
till sent there from the United States." 

An English writer says, " So much has been 
said about the Brahma fowls, and such a variety of 
opinions given as to whether they are a distinct 
breed or not, that I will venture to say a little 
respecting them. That they are a distinct breed 
there is not the least doubt, for long before they 
were imported into this country, a brother of 
mine, who has been much in India, informed 
me of them, and pointed out most particularly 
the advantages they possessed over the Cochins. 
I have now several of these birds in my posses- 
sion, both of the dark and light variety. Some 
months since my brother visited me, and on being 
shown the birds, at once pronounced them to be 
the same as those he had seen in India; and he 
farther states that there are two distinct varie- 
ties as to color and shape — the one being dark 
and straight in form, with few feathers on the 
legs ; the other, with white body, black tail and 
wing feathers, the neck delicately penciled, 
bright yellow legs, generally heavily feathered ; 
the neck, tail, and back forming a half circle. 
The comb in each variety should be straight 
and single. 

" I have seen nearly all the birds which have 
been imported from America, and many of those 
from India; and I must say that many of the 



finest specimens at present in this country are 
from the United States, independent of those 
sent to her Majesty. There is but little doubt 
that when the Brahmas become more generally 
known, they will stand number one. Their ap- 
pearance is most pleasing, their flesh white and 
delicate. They are superior to most birds in size, 
and their eggs second to none for size and fla- 
vor; and the hens are not so prone to sit as the 
Cochins." 

There has been an evident desire on the part 
of Shanghai and Cochin breeders to put a stop 
to the rapid advance to favor made by the 
Brahmas ; but it is useless, for they have every 
thing to recommend them. Only " give them a 
fair field and no favor," and they will soon place 
in the shade their buff opponents, the Shanghais. 

An American writer says, "We know, or we 
believe, they are from India, and came from the 
neighborhood of the river after which they are 
named. What hindered our countrymen from 
importing them, as they have the credit of 
go-aheadiveness ? and if they imported them, 
why are those they have sent to England of 
necessity spurious ? Did not the first ever re- 
ceived in England go from America? And 
may not the first possessors know something 
about them ?" 

The multitude of counselors has not yet 
brought wisdom, nor have they succeeded in 
agreeing among themselves as to the chief points, 
or the origin of their birds. 

Mr. Burnham says they are Shanghais. Dr. 
Bennett contends they came from India. Why 
should they not? During the mania many of 
these birds were imported from China. How 
was it that among them there were no Brahmas, 
and then why should it be so strongly asserted 
they are only Shanghais ? It would seem that 
the hold of these latter birds on their admirers 
is so strong, that rather than admit a new actor 
on the scene, they will vow he is the same in a 
new costume. Shanghais will ever be memor- 
able in the history of poultry as the birds that 
were the general favorites when a love for the 
feathered tribe sprung up. They will also bear 
the palm of having made larger prices, and main- 
tained them longer than any other will ever 
probably do. 



ASIATIC FOWLS. 



113 



Let their lovers and admirers be content with 
this, and with the good qualities which, by uni- 
versal consent, are awarded them. It is use- 
less for them to ask more, as the public has al- 
ready decided the value of them, and they have 
passed from ridiculous to rational prices. They 
have also suffered the fate of all favorites and 
fashions; they have had their day. Let, then, 
the Brahmas have their turn, and reign if they 
deserve it ; they will never attain the height of 
their predecessors, nor will any other; but do 
not seek to take from them "their local habit- 
ation and their name." 

An English writer is wonderfully mistaken 
when he says "the American (Brahma) birds 
are crossed with the Malay." No mixture is so 
easy to detect as this ; there is a character in 
Malay fowls which belong to no other, and the 
slightest of it is immediately visible to a prac- 
ticed eye. The feather, the carriage, tail, and 
head of Malays are different from any others, 
and so different, that the veriest tyro will rec- 
ognize them when grafted on any other stock. 

If they were Cochins, they would not have 
the pea-combs nor the deep breasts. If they 
were crossed with the Malay, they would have 
drooping tails, small bodies, hard plumage, and 
cruel faces. If they were crossed with Dork- 
ings they would have ample tails, five claws, and 
clean legs. These are the accusations, and the 
birds in question have no points to bear them out. 

What are they then ? They are Brahmas, 
large heavy birds, symmetrical, prolific, and 
hardy ; living where Shanghais would starve ; 
growing in frost and snow, when hatched in 
winter months ; and without seeking to christen 
a mania, they are standing on their own merits, 
with the conviction they will deserve well of the 
public. 

In speaking of various breeds of fowls Mr. G. 
B. Smith says, "As regards the Brahmas and 
gray Shanghai fowls, I think there is a great dif- 
ference between the two ; I have raised them 
both for several years, and greatly prefer the 
Brahmas. They lay a third larger egg than the 
Shanghai, and are the best fowl for any one de- 
siring eggs in the winter. Their eggs sometimes 
weigh from 3 to 4* ounces each, whereas those 
of the Shanghai seldom reach over 2 or 2i 
II 



ounces. The Brahmas, I think, will lay a great- 
er weight of eggs in a year than any fowls I am 
acquainted with ; I have bred fowls for over 
twenty years, and there are none I like better 
than these. They have improved in size since 
I first obtained them ; this I think is owing to 
my changing the cock every year, which I am 
very particular to do." 

Hide your diminished heads, poor Cochins 
and Shanghais! No longer will you walk at 
your ease in leisurely possession, but waddle 
away and hide in obscurity; no longer will you 
claim the distinction of " cock of the walk ;" for 
you have formidable rivals now, and any one 
may see that, 

"As eager runs the market crowd, 
"When 'stop the thief resounds abroad," 

so will the taste of the fancy go after the Brah- 
mas; those large, showy, beautiful birds, which 
every one seems to take on credit, are certainly 
capital specimens of the feathered race. " If," as 
the spirited author of the "Pentalogue" hints. 
" they are only the result of American invention. 
they have invented a very nice fowl. And if 
the Americans made them, I can only hope they 
will go to work again and make us something 
else." 

The following is a description of two Brahma 
fowls, a cock and hen, bred by Dr. Bennett, of 
New Hampshire, and sold to Dr. Gwinne, of 
England: 

"The cock, when drawn up to l.is full height, 
measures thirty inches ; the head and eye have 
much of the Malay character; the neck is full ; 
the back is very short; and falling rapidly from 
the bottom of the neck to the insertion of the 
tail; the thigh and shank long; but the breast 
is fairly developed, decidedly more so than in 
most Malay specimens. The face, wattles, and 
ear-lobes, the latter of considerable size, are 
brilliant crimson, similar in point of color to 
the face and crest of the silver pheasant: the 
beak short and yellow; comb small, depressed, 
and studded with numerous points or sprigs. 
American fanciers compare it to the pea-comb 
of the 'Sumatra pheasant Game fowl,' thongfa 
of the bird thus designated we have no farther 
notice; hackle full, being streaked with black 
on a yellowish white ground; Baddle feathers 



114 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 




E.MEU SHANGHAI FOWL. 



the same ; the point of the wings and tail black ; 
breast imbricated (feathers placed like tiles) ; 
wing-coverts and primaries white, with black 
markings; belly and vent dark gray; legs yel- 
low, with a pink tinge, and well feathered. 

" The hen is throughout of a rich silvery gray 
color, with a considerable mixture of black on 
the hackle, back, tail, and wings ; her comb is 
like that of the cock on a reduced scale ; stand- 
ing erect she would be about twenty inches in 
height." 

The doubts to which many have given utter- 
ance as to the title of the Brahmas to be con- 
sidered a distinct race of fowls, exist among the 
English as well as American fanciers. Appear- 
ances there certainly are which, until farther 
evidence has been obtained on the permanency 
in the progeny of present distinctive features, 
should prevent any summary judgment favor- 
able or otherwise. 

The head, as also in some instances the comb, 
and the general figure certainly resemble those 
of the Malay. And as regards plumage, there 



are birds of the Malay and Shanghai families by 
whose union such colors would probably soon 
appear. But if, on the other hand, the test of 
" like producing like" for several generations 
should be successfully afforded by the Brahmas, 
other grounds must be sought for by those who 
would consign this alleged variety to the com- 
parative ignominy of a hybrid origin. 

EMEU SHANGHAI. 

Freaks of nature are not uncommon in the 
fowl species. Among the monstrosities of the do- 
mestic fowl, which are particularly curious, and 
worthy of the attention of the student of nature, 
may be mentioned the Emeu Shaghai. Instan- 
ces are not uncommon among fowls where the 
usual form of the feather has given place to the 
peculiar texture of the Silk fowl, and from this 
singularity has obtained the name of the " Emeu 
Shanghai fowl," from its similarity to the woolly 
coat of the Australian bird. In the case of the 
above, which the engraving delineates, it is said 
there were no indications of any silky cross in 



ASIATIC FOWLS. 



115 



the Shanghai ; but on the contrary, every oth- 
er feature, plumage excepted, was perfectly re- 
tained. 

The Emeu Shanghai, noticed above, "has 
plumage much resembling those of the true Silk 
fowls. The feathers have their web separated 
from the point of junction with the shaft, so that 
their covering seems of fur rather than that which 
is ordinarily allotted to birds. The tail feathers, 
if it can be called a tail, it is little more devel- 
oped, in fact, than the Rumpless fowl, resemble 
fine gauze or fur, for here the texture is closer 
than on any part of the body." 

This fowl was obtained as follows : A gentle- 
man in England was presented with six Shang- 
hai eggs from a yard where none other than 
Shanghais were kept, excepting, perhaps, one 
or two common hens ; but, however, there 
were only Shanghai cocks, and the eggs which 
were given were laid by Shanghai hens. From 
these six c"as three chicks were hatched ; two 



turned out very handsome Shanghai cocks, and 
the third egg turned out, to all appearance, a 
thorough-bred Emeu hen. From her eggs no 
such fowls were ever hatched; they were also 
the sort of brute you would imagine would he 
the consequence of a cross between the Emeu 
hen and a Shanghai cock ; but at the same time 
the Emeu hen, while differing entirely in appear- 
ance from her brothers, and, in fact, from all 
her relatives, possesses all the moral and domes- 
tic traits of a Shanghai — the same gentle tracta- 
bility of temper, the same proneness to sitting, 
the same fecundity in laying eggs. 

Some chickens bred from this hen by a Shang- 
hai cock were not apparently different from buff 
Shanghai chickens, with black hackle and feath- 
ered legs. 

We are not aware of its possessing any points 
of excellence beyond its relatives, and we there- 
fore leave it with the mere mention of the strange 
garb that has obtained for it its present name. 




116 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



CHAPTER VI. 



FARM- YARD FOWLS. 



The day is beginning to dawn when each 
variety of fowls must stand or fall by its own 
individual merits ; the fictitious bolsterings of 
fancy give preference to the stern realities of 
utility, and the most valuable for table purposes, 
for laying, and for incubation, must wrest the 
laurels from their opponents. It is well it 
should be so, for these are the considerations 
that should alone bias us in choosing our favor- 
ite variety to breed from ; for as, when fowls 
are used for the legitimate purposes of the ta- 
ble, an ideal value can never be maintained, so 
it is equally certain that when an amateur has 
purchased dearly-bought experience, the im- 
pression fixes itself tenaciously on the mind, 
and does much to prevent unchecked demands 
on the pocket for the future. 

Dr. Bechstein, of Germany, seems not to have 
been far from suspecting that several distinct 
varieties might be detected among the ordinary 
fowls of the farm-yard. It might answer the 
purpose of the amateur or dealer to rear a pure 
stock of some of the handsomest and most use- 
ful of these, and send them forth with appro- 
priate names, determined by competent per- 
sons, fixing the appellation of the variety. 

The common domestic cock, the well-known 
chieftain of the farm-yard, is subject to innu- 
merable varieties, scarcely two being found to 
resemble each other exactly in form and plu- 
mage. At what time this valuable bird was first 
brought under the control of man, it is now 
impossible to determine ; but as the forests of 
India still abound with several varieties of the 
fowl in the wild or natural condition, it is quite 
reasonable to conclude that the race was first 
domesticated in the East, and gradually extend- 
ed thence to the western world. The earliest 
date of poultry-keeping is supposed to be coe- 
val with the keeping of sheep by Abel, and the 
tilling of the soil by Cain. Indeed it would 



seem that we are indebted for a stock of fowls 
from the ark itself. Aristotle, who wrote about 
350 years before Christ, speaks of them as fa- 
miliarly as a modern historian would. 

GAME FOWL. 

We place at the head of the Farm-yard fowls 
the Game fowl, which is supposed to be the first 
reclaimed, and of course the most ancient of 
all the varieties of domestic fowls. 

Our portrait is copied from an English print, 
and called the Shawl-necked, or Irish Gray. 
They are the largest sized of the Game fowls, 
and are highly prized by the "fancy." 

The Jungle fowl of India is regarded by 
most authors as the common ancestor of all our 
fowls, and the Game fowl is naturally suggest- 
ed as the first link in the geneological chain. 
Some assert that the Black-breasted Red birds 
are derived from what is commonly called the 
Bengal Jungle fowl, while others claim a sepa- 
rate descent from the Duck-wing fowl which 
inhabits Southern India, known as Sonnerat's 
Jungle fowl, whose more varied plumage bears 
a very close resemblance to this beautiful varie- 
ty. Others again, think the race from which 
they sprung, like that of the Dodo, are extinct. 
But we will leave inquiries of this kind, though 
very interesting, to the Naturalist. 

It is also supposed by some that the English 
Game fowl originated from a cross between the 
common barn-yard fowl and the English pheas- 
ant, as the latter is known to be so quarrelsome 
and determined a character, that when two 
cocks encounter in their wild state, they sel- 
dom separate until one or the other is killed. 
Many of the Game fowls certainly much resem- 
ble them in theirplumage, colorof their legs, etc., 
for the best are mostly red, dark brown, brass- 
colored wings, and black breast. 

Mowbray says the progeny between the com- 



FARM-YARD FOWLS. 



117 




SHAWL-NECKED GAME FOWL. 



m jn fowl and the pheasant are necessarily mules, 
as proceeding from different species although of 
of the same genus. 

That the pheasant will cross with the domes- 
tic fowl, is evident from the following fact, 
which we find related in the "Journal of Agri- 
culture," published in Scotland. "In the au- 
tumn of 1836," says the narrator, "a wanderer 
of the Pheasant tribe made his appearance in a 
small valley of the Grampians, the first of his 
family who had ventured so far north in that 
particular district. For some time he was only 
occasionally observed, and the actual presence 
of this vara avis was disputed by many ; wintry 
wants, however, brought him more frequently 
into notice; and in due time, proof still more 
unequivocal became apparent. When the chick- 
en broods came forth, and began to assume a 
shape and form, no small admiration was excited 
by certain lofty, long-tailed, game-looking birds, 
standing forth among them, and continuing to 
grow in size and beauty, until all doubts of the 
stranger's interference with the rights of chan- 
ticleer effectually vanished. These hybrids par- 
took largely of the pheasant character; and as 
they are of a goodly size and hardy constitution, 
a useful and agreeable variety for our poultry- 



yards may be secured in a very simple and eco- 
nomical manner." 

Although the fowl was found in a domestic 
state in Britain at the time of the Roman con- 
quest, it is probable that the game breed was 
introduced after that event. Martin remarks 
that the ancient Greeks possessed several re- 
nowned breeds of game fowls, and that Media 
and Persia possessed others of first-rate excel- 
lence ; but he thinks it probable that this breed 
was introduced by the Romans, who are sup- 
posed to have derived it from the Persians, 
when Britain was a Roman colony. 

No satisfactory information seems to be ac- 
cessible now by which to pronounce with cer- 
tainty on the origin of this breed. It is cer- 
tain, however, that in India an original race of 
fowls exist at the present day, bearing all the 
peculiar characteristics of the species, in full 
perfection; and the probability therefore is, 
that these fowls are natives of India. The na- 
tives of India, it is well known, are infected 
with a passion for cock-fighting. For this bar- 
barous amusement these fowls are carefully 
bred, and the finest birds become articles of 
great value. 

There is much elegance in all the movements 



US 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



of the Game-cock; a bold defiance in his chal- 
lenge, while every glance, " keen as the eagle's," 
looks in your face with fearless bravery. His 
gallantry, as exhibited to his harem, is of the 
most refined kind, and makes us feel the truth 
of the poet, that 

" None but the brave deserve the fair." 

There are evidently two or more varieties 
of the Game fowl ; and a multiplicity of sub- 
varieties present themselves to our special no- 
tice. Among the most conspicuous we will 
mention the following: The Black-breasted 
Reds, and five varieties designated by the col- 
or of their legs. Brown-breasted Reds, some- 
times called Gingers. Duck-wings, Gray, or 
streaky-breasted, Black brassy-wings, and Fur- 
nace. Piles, three sorts. Blue or Grays, Blue, 
Red-dun, Cuckoos, Birchen-yellow, Hen-cocks, 
Whites, Indian, and Shawl-necks, or what are 
sometimes called Irish Grays. 

Among all the varieties of the Game fowls 
we give precedence to that variety known as 
"Lord Derby's breed," which have been kept 
and bred with great care for upward of one 
hundred years at Knowlsley, and still maintain 
their high reputation. The following is a de- 
scription of the cock of that breed : "They are 
of a good round shape, well put together ; have 
a fine long head ; daw-eyes ; long and strong 
neck ; hackle well feathered, touching the shoul- 
ders ; wings large and well quilled ; back short ; 
belly round and black; tail long and sickled, 
being well tufted at the root — thick, short, and 
stiff; legs rather long, with white feet and nails, 
the latter being free from all coarseness. The 
required ' Daw-eye' is that which resembles the 
gray eye of the jackdaw. Their distinctive 
features are the white beak, feet, and claws, 
essential to eveiy bird claiming descent from 
that illustrious stock. 

"The colors of the 'Derby Red' should be 
as follows : Cock. — Face bright red ; breast and 
thighs coal black; hackle and saddle feathers 
light orange-red ; back intense brown-red, a 
depth of color that painters would term drag- 
on's-blood; lesser wing-coverts maroon; great- 
er wing-coverts marked at the extremity with 
steel-blue, forming a bar across the wings ; pri- 
mary wing- feathers bay; tail iridescent black. 



It seems a peculiarity in these fowls, that one 
at least of the pinion feathers is marked with 
white. The sex of the chickens can be distin- 
guished when only a few weeks old. Beaks, 
legs, and feet white. 

"Through the whole catalogue of Game fowls 
the male birds are by far the most conspicuous 
in plumage; and wherever mere color has giv- 
en the name to a class, the markings of the 
cock explain the reason. The Black-breasted 
Red hens, for instance, possess little of their 
consort's brilliancy of feather, though these are 
of much lighter colors than the Red-breasted 
hen — a fact in strange opposition to the plu- 
mage of the respective male birds." 

" The hen we now describe," say the authors 
of the "Poultry Book," "was selected from the 
Knowlsley stock: Hen. — Head fine and taper- 
ing; face, wattles, and comb bright red; ex- 
tremities of upper mandible and the greater 
portion of the lower one white, but dusky at its 
base and around its nostril; chestnut-brown 
around the eye, continued beneath the throat ; 
shaft of neck hackle light buff; web pale brown, 
edged with black ; breast shaded with roan and 
fawn-color ; belly and vent of an ash tint ; back 
and wing-coverts partridge-colored ; primary 
wing-feathers and tail black, the latter earned 
vertically and widely- expanded; legs, feet, and 
nails perfectly white." 

Duck-wings are among the most beautiful of 
all Game fowls. The cocks vary in the color 
of their hackle, saddle-feathers, and breast; the 
hackle and saddle-feathers of some strains being 
nearly white, in others yellow ; while with some 
again the breasts are black, with some streaky, 
and with some gray. 

Game fowls of unquestionable purity are often 
seen with entirely black plumage ; but, gener- 
ally speaking, the cocks have the yellow bar on 
the wing-coverts, which has given them the 
name of Brass-icinged. The hens are without 
this peculiar marking, which is not fully devel- 
oped till the third year. 

Characteristics. — Whatever the color of the 
Game fowl there is a generally recognized 
standard for its form and figure, to which of 
the varieties it may belong. 

The following would be the points by which 




BLAOK-BKEASTED EED GAME. 



FARM-YARD FOWLS. 



119 



a choice should be regulated : The head of the 
Game-cock should be thin and long, like that 
of a greyhound ; face bright red ; beak massy 
at the root, strong and curved ; eyes large and 
sparkling ; neck long and full ; breast broad and 
■well developed ; back short and flat between the 
shoulders ; body tapering toward the tail ; wings 
inclined to expand and cover the thighs, some- 
what after the Bantam; thighs short and mus- 
cular ; shank or beam of the leg powerful, and 
long in proportion to the thigh ; legs well for- 
ward, with a clean foot and strong claws. When 
placed on his breast on the palm of the hand 
he should be evenly balanced. In condition he 
should exhibit both closeness and hardness of 
feather, while his carriage is erect, evincing both 
boldness and self-confidence. 

The proportions of the hen will, of course, 
exhibit certain feminine reductions from her 
consort's figure; but the clean and finely-form- 
ed neck and head, the latter surmounted by a 
small upright comb, together with a neat figure, 
and muscular formation of the leg and thigh, 
and of general elasticity of limb, must always 
be apparent. 

The comb, as a main characteristic in the 
Game fowl, more particularly in the male bird, 
so disappears that the ardent admirers of this 
breed might be inclined to regard it rather as 
an accident than a property. 

The spur should be placed low on the leg, its 
power as a weapon being thereby greatly in- 
creased ; but the force of the blow is aided by 
a rapid driving stroke of the wing. The best 
weight of a Game-cock is generally considered 
to be about five pounds, but we have known some 
to reach six pounds. The Shawl-necked or Irish 
Grays are of the largest class. 

Game Hens as Layers. — The color of the eggs 
of the Game hen varies from a dull white to a 
fawn, but crossing with the Asiatic bird imparts 
a still darker tint. In shape, as might be sup- 
posed from the numerous sub-varieties, our de- 
scription must be very general, for, while with 
the Black-breasted and other Reds, we find the 
egg with the diameter greatest at one-third of 
its length from its larger end, and both extrem- 
ities tapering, neither this color nor form could 
be affirmed of other varieties. 



The Black-breasted Red is as good a layer as 
any of this numerous family ; as many as twentv- 
four eggs being constantly laid by them before 
manifesting any desire to sit. But with regard 
to the number of eggs laid by fowls of any breed 
previously to their manifesting a desire to incu- 
bate, much will depend on whether the eggs are 
removed and a nest-egg only allowed to remain, 
or whether they are allowed to accumulate as 
clay by day the store may receive additions. If 
the latter plan be adopted, few Game fowls, we 
imagine, would be found to lay beyond the num- 
ber instinct would suggest as the proper com- 
plement for their nest; and this we find from 
twelve to fifteen. 

As sitters Game hens have no superiors. Quiet 
on their eggs, regular in the hours for coming 
off and returning to their charge, and confident, 
from their fearless disposition, of repressing 
the incursions of any intruder, they rarely fail 
to bring off good broods. Hatching accomplish- 
ed, their merits appear in a still more conspic- 
uous light. Ever on their guard, not even the 
shadow of a bird overhead, or the approach of 
man or beast, but finds them ready to do battle 
for their offspring ; and instances are on record 
where rats and other vermin have thus fallen 
before them. 

Qualities for the Table. — If any of our readers 
should desire the neplus ultra of excellence in a 
fowl, let him eat and pronounce his opinion on 
the wing of a well-fed Game pullet, and we will 
have no fear of his disagreeing with this expres- 
sion of our judgment on the good qualities of 
these birds for the table. 

Of all the breeds, the Game fowl is consider- 
ed the most perfect and beautiful, whether we 
look to contour or to coloring; the cock carries 
himself proudly and yet gracefully, his port and 
bearing proclaim his fiery spirit, his undaunted 
mettle, which endures even to his last breath, 
for while prostrate and mortally wounded he 
will answer the insulting crow of his victorious 
rival, and make a last effort to revenge himself 
before the spark of life is extinct. No wonder 
then that the gallant cock should have been 
chosen as the emblem of courage. 

It is allowed by most persons that a high-bred 
Game-cock in full health and vigor, is, after all, 



120 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



the beau ideal of a fowl, the true aristocracy of 
the genus (/alius. It is not wonderful that he 
should have heen a favorite equally with the 
refined and intellectual Greeks and the hardy 
and daring Romans. 

The Romans, whose taste for sanguinary spec- 
tacles is notorious, were extremely partial to 
the amusement of cock-fighting, and trained 
birds for that purpose. Indeed the taste for 
this cruel sport seems to he very general ; the 
Mussulman natives of India are greatly addict- 
ed to it, and one species of Jungle fowl called 
Sonncrat's Jungle Fowl, is in high request. This 
bird, though smaller than the domestic breed, is 
superior in spirit and endurance, and usually 
proves victorious in combat. The Chinese are 
devoted to the sport ; and the natives of Suma- 
tra enter into it with so much ardor, that instan- 
ces, it is said, have occurred of men staking not 
only their goods and money, but even their 
children on the issue of a battle. 

In England the same taste long prevailed, 
but happily the practice, " more honored in the 
breach than in the observance," is now greatly 
on the decline, if not obsolete ; it is, indeed, in- 
compatible with the diffusion of knowledge and 
the progress of the age, the tendency of which 
is to humanize mankind, and lead the mind 
from sordid and debasing pursuits to sources of 
intellectual enjoyments. 

The Manilla Indians, in common with all 
Malays, are passionately fond of cock-fighting ; 
but they are not permitted to indulge at pleas- 
ure this inclination. An Indian rarely walks 
out without a cock, and as soon as he meets 
another Indian with one under his arm, the two 
birds are set down and immediately engage ; but 
battles with gaffs or steel spurs are only per- 
mitted in a place formed for the purpose, which 
is farmed from the king at a rent of twenty or 
twenty-five thousand dollars ; here the Indians 
assemble, and frequently bet on their favorite 
cocks the whole of what they are worth. The 
fate of the gamesters is soon decided, for the 
cocks being armed with sharp spurs, one or the 
other is killed almost in an instant. 

A cock-pit, like a race-course, in a sporting 
point of view, in England, was for every person, 
and selection of company was entirely out of 



the question. The noble lord and the weedy 
commoner were both at home after they had 
paid their tip for admission ; and persons who 
enter the pit to sport a crown, bet a sovereign, or 
put down their pounds, are too much interested 
upon the main to consider whom they may chance 
to "rub against" for the time being. 

Cock-fighting, which among us is regarded 
as barbarous and vulgar in the extreme, is in 
Mexico by no means a peculiar amusement. It 
is universal, and stands second only to the bull- 
fight. 

Waddy Thompson, in his " Recollections of 
Mexico," gives a very interesting description of 
a cock-fight which he witnessed. " When I 
first visited Santa Anna at Encerro," says Mr. 
Thompson, " he was examining his chicken 
cocks, having a large main then depending — 
he went round the coops and examined every 
fowl, and gave directions as to his feed ; some 
to have more, others to be stinted. There was 
one of very great beauty, of the color of the 
partridge, only with the feathers tipped with 
black instead of yellow or white; and the male 
in all respects like the female, except in size. 
He asked me if we had any such in this country, 
and when I told him we had not, he said that 
if that one gained his fight he would send him 
to me — he was the only one of fifteen which 
did not lose his fight; and shortly after my re- 
turn, when I visited New York, I found the fowl 
there. I had thought no more about it, and 
had no idea he would send him. 

"In Mexico there is no variety of sport that 
produces a more general excitement than the 
cock-fight. It is not confined, as might be sup- 
posed, to any particular class of persons. Be- 
tween the generalissimo of the army and the 
rawest recruit — the President of the Republic 
and the humblest hind — the Archbishop of the 
Church and the meekest member, there is no 
difference. In the amphitheatre, side by side, 
stand the priest and the peasant, the hunter and 
the herdsman, the shopman and the soldier. 
In juxtaposition may be seen the old man, 
whose dangling locks are white as the polar 
snows ; the slender youth, whose limbs are slow- 
ly rounding into manhood, and the truant boy, 
scarce old enough to lisp his Spanish name. 



FARM-YARD FOWLS. 



121 



It is common to every caste and condition — to 
every age and vocation ; and even women are 
sometimes the willing observants of this barba- 
rous sport. It is attended by every body. 

" When I entered the cock-pit Santa Anna 
and General Bravo, with a large number of the 
most distinguished men in Mexico, and quite a 
large number of ladies of the highest circles, 
were already there. The master of ceremonies 
on the occasion walked into the pit, and ex- 
claimed two or three times, 'Ave Maria puris- 
issima, los (/alios vienerC — Hail most pure Mary, 
the chicken-cocks are coming. Whereupon a 
cock is brought in covered, and a challenge is 
proclaimed to all comers — which is very soon 
accepted. The fowls are then uncovered, and 
allowed to walk about the pit, that the specta- 
tors may see them, and select the one on which 
they choose to risk their money. Those in the 
seats call some of the numerous brokers who 
are always in attendance, and give them what- 
ever sum they desire to bet, and designate their 
favorite cock. Before the fight commences, the 
broker returns and informs the person whose 
money he has received whether his bet has been 
taken. If he loses, he sees no more of the bro- 
ker ; but if he wins, he is perfectly sure to get 
his money. A small gratuity is expected by 
the broker, but never asked for, if it is not vol- 
untarily given. 

" Unlike cock-pits in other countries, attend- 
ed by black-legs and pickpockets, and gentle- 
manly roue's, by far the largest portion of the 
assembly in the pit was composed of the first 
young men in Mexico, and for that matter, of 
the first old ones also. There was neither con- 
fusion, nor noise, nor even loud talking, far less 
swearing, among the lowest of those assembled 
in the ring; and it is this quiet and orderly be- 
havior which throws over all these incongruities 
a cloak of decency and decorum, that hides their 
impropriety so completely, that even foreigners, 
who have lived here for a few years, and who 
were at first struck with astonishment by these 
things, are now quite reconciled to them." 

Among the amusements at Lima the cock- 
pit is a great attraction, and all classes frequent 
it. The cocks are armed with steel spurs, and 
the battle is soon determined. 



DOMINIQUE FOWL. 

This well-known variety of our domestic fowl, 
there is good reason to believe, is old and dis- 
tinct, though it is generally looked upon as a 
mere "farm-yard fowl;" that is, the accidental 
result of promiscuous crossing ; but there are sev- 
eral forms among the farm-yard fowls, so called, 
that are seen to be repeated generation after 
generation, the counterparts of which are to be 
met with, scattered here and there, over this 
country. So constant repetition of corresponding 
features would seem to declare that there are 
several unnoticed and undistinguished varieties 
of fowls which deserve to be regarded and treat- 
ed as we do other distinct varieties. 

The Dominique fowl, well selected and care- 
fully bred, is a fine and useful bird. They are 
distinguished as Dominique by their markings 
and their color, which is generally considered 
an indication of hardiness and fecundity. They 
are by some called " Hawk-colored fowls," from 
their strong resemblance in color to the birds of 
that name. In England they are usually called 
"Cuckoo fowls," from the fancied resemblance 
of their plumage to the feathers on the Cuckoo's 
breast. We seldom see bad hens of this variety, 
and, take them "all-in-all," we do not hesitate 
in pronouncing them one of the best and most 
profitable fowls, being hardy, good layers, care- 
ful nurses, and affording excellent eggs and first 
quality of flesh. 

In any close grouping of the breeds of poul- 
try, the Dominique fowl might perhaps be safe- 
ly referred to the Dorkings. Some of the slate- 
colored, barred Dorkings are scarcely distin- 
guished from them, except by the fifth toe ; still 
there is something very permanent and remark- 
able in the peculiar style of plumage that ought 
not to be lost sight of. It is with difficulty get 
rid of by crossing. Half-bred Spanish and 
Dorking fowls have quite retained the barred 
and shaded feathers of the one parent, display- 
ing the comb, ear-lobe and stature of the other. 
And this curious and decided plumage is quite 
confined to one or two breeds, never appear- 
ing, that we are aware, in others, such as the 
Came, the Malays, and the Hamburgs; a cir- 
cumstance which makes us believe it to indi- 



122 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 




DOMINIQUE FOWL. 



cate an ancient descent from some peculiar and 
original parentage. 

The prevailing and true color of the Domi- 
nique fowl is a light ground, undulated and 
softly shaded with a slaty-blue all over the 
body, as indicated in the portrait of the cock, 
forming bands of various widths. In order to 
be more fully and better understood, and to show 
the peculiar markings of tliG feathers, we pro- 
cured a feather from one of the hens which is 
faithfully delineated on the opposite page. The 
comb of the cock is variable, some being single, 
while others are double — most, however, are 
single; the iris, bright orange; feet and legs 
light flesh color — some, however, are of a bright 



yellow or buff color; bill the same color as the 
legs. 

The hens are not large, but plump and full 
breasted. The cocks are somewhat larger than 
the hens, some approaching the smaller-sized 
Dorkings in weight. The chickens at two or 
three months old exhibit the barred plumage 
even more perfectly than the full-grown birds. 
The eggs average about two ounces each, are 
•white, and of porcelain smoothness. The newly 
hatched chicks are gray, with a dark stripe down 
the back of the neck, and three on the back, re- 
sembling those of the Silver Polands, except in 
the color of the feet and legs. The Domi- 
nique fowl supplies an unfailing troop of good 



FARM-YARD FOWLS. 



123 





layers, though not quite so early in the season 
as the Asiatic and some others ; they are good 
feeders, good sitters, good mothers, hardy, and 
are well worthy of promotion in the poultry- 
yard. 

Merits. — Dr. Bennett, in his "Poultry Book," 
says, " I know of no fowls which have stood the 
test of mixing without deteriorating better than 
the Dominique. They are said to be from the 
island of Dominica, but I very much doubt it. 
I should incline to the opinion that they took 
their name from being ' tenants at will' of some 
feudal sovereignty. Why it is that so perfect 
bloods should have escaped description of poul- 
terers, I am unable to divine. It is true they 
Are rather small, and that is the worst thing that 
oan be said of the Dominiques. They were in- 
troduced by the French, and not a Dutch fowl, 
as some suppose." 

In the Appendix to "Browne's Poultry-Yard," 
the late venerable Samuel Allen, when speak- 
ing of the comparative merits of the different 
breeds of fowls, says: "The Dominique fowl 
is another breed becoming more and more in 



favor, as they are universally pronouced as be- 
ing hardy, good layers, careful nurses, and af- 
fording excellent eggs and flesh. Besides, their 
beautiful appearance, when in full plumage, is 
quite an acquisition to the farm-yard or lawn." 
Mr. G. C. Pierce, of Danvers, Massachusetts, 
a breeder of merit, says concerning the Domi- 
nique fowls: "Taken all in all, I believe them 
to be one of the very best breeds of fowls we 
have, and I do not know of any breed that al- 
ters so little by in-and-in breeding; they are 
first-rate layers, and although they do not come 
into laying so young as the Spanish, I think 
them far better sitters and nurses." 

THE DORKING FOWL. 

" It is our firm belief that the fowl now known 
as the Dorking," say the authors of the "Poul- 
try Book," " a very valuable and favorite variety, 
which takes its name from a town in the countj 
of Surrey, might be much more correctly desig- 
nated the 'English fowl.' It is supposed to 
have originated in Surrey, where, and in its vi- 
cinity, they are still said to be found in great 
plenty and perfection. This opinion is founded 
on the probability that they are the lineal de- 
scendants, of course of various intermixtures, 
from those which our British forefathers bred 
at the time when they first became intimately 
known to the Romans ; or that they are simi- 
larly descended from fowls introduced by those 
conquerors of our island. 

"It is in vain to endeavor to follow their 
origin farther; but those who would trace our 
gallinacious birds to an Eastern source, will take 
comfort from the certainty, or all but certainty, 
that the world's merchants in tire days of Solo- 
mon — the Phoenicians — visited the British Isl- 
ands, the Cassiterides, for their tin. These mer- 
chants who bought goods to exchange for it, 
seeing the Britons' fondness for domestic poul- 
try, may have brought fowls to barter for the 
metal. 

"The Romans probably weakened the preju- 
dice of the Britons against eating the domestic 
fowl ; and, as it is well known they strove to im- 
prove the British farming and gardening, so it 
is more than reasonable to conclude that poultry 
shared in the progressive effort. Our most prev- 



124 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 




THE IIOKKING FOWL. 



alent breed, the Dorking, share the five-toed ex- 
cellence that characterized the most esteemed 
fowls of Rome." 

Both the Dorking and Game are ancient 
breeds. Columella, who lived in the middle of 
the first century, accurately describes the Dork- 
ing, as we have it, as being the best fowl of his 
time ; speckled in color, of great beauty of plu- 
mage, and possessing the fifth toe. 

"We have sought for information as to the 
time when Dorking and its fowls first became 
noted," says a writer in the Gentleman's Maga- 
zine, " but our inquiry has been fruitless. When 
Camden wrote his ' Britannia' in 1610, Dorking 
was so inconsiderable as not even to be men- 
tioned by him, and in his map of Surrey it is 
marked a mere village. It is probable that the 
soils in that neighborhood, sand and chalk, which 
are particularly favorable to the rearing of chick- 
ens (and also the demand for such delicacies oc- 
casioned by the resort thither of visitors in the 
summer season to eat 'water souchet,' made 
from the perch for which its waters are cele- 
brated), may have led to particular attention to 



poultry culture. At all events, a century ago 
the fame of Dorking poultry was established ; 
for a writer in 17G3, who evidently knew the 
neighborhood well, says, 'An incredible quan- 
tity of poultry is sold in Dorking, and they are 
all well known to the lovers of good eating for 
being remarkably large and fine. I have seen 
capons about Christmas which weighed between 
seven and eight pounds each, out of their feath- 
ers, and were sold at five shillings apiece.'" 

A writer who resides in the vicinity of Dork- 
ing, and an extensive breeder, says, "I am in- 
clined to the opinion that the old white Dork- 
ing fowl has been continually crossed with fowls 
of a larger breed, which from time immemorial 
have been known to prevail in Sussex ; and this 
more particularly in the district around Cuck- 
field and Horsham, where great attention has 
been paid to the selection of breeding stock, and 
a much better fowl has been produced. 

"Now we are altogether without evidence, 
at least for the last eighty years, that would war- 
rant our assigning the fowls, now called colored 
Dorkings, to the old Dorking stock before al- 



FARM-YARD FOWLS. 



125 



luded to ; but, on the other hand, there are old 
men now living in the Cuckfield district, where 
the best specimens are still found, brought up 
from their infancy as higglers or fowl-dealers, 
following the occupation of their fathers in the 
same business, who assert, on their own knowl- 
edge and on the tradition of their predecessors, 
that the fowl in question is a Sussex fowl, and 
that nothing would induce them to cross their 
breed with the Dorking." 

It has been stated by those who have paid 
particular attention to the subject, that the thor- 
ough bred are less hardy and less prolific than 
when an admixture of blood is admitted, which 
has been confirmed by the experience of those 
who have kept the pure speckled Dorking on a 
large scale, both for private consumption and 
for the supply of the market, that the cross is 
more profitable. Some complain that they are 
soon worn out, and not good for much, either in 
the way of laying or sitting, after their second 
year. All this shows some inherent defect. 
Hence the precautionary and remedial measure 
of introducing a fresh and well-selected cock- 
bird or two into the walk every second or third 
year, at farthest, is the very best that can be 
adopted. 

Mr. Dixon, a celebrated writer on poultry, re- 
marks, on the subject of the Dorkings: "For 
those who wish to stock their poultry -yards with 
fowls of the most desirable shape and size, 
clothed in rich and variegated plumage, and, not 
expecting perfection, are willing to overlook one 
or two other points, the speckled Dorkings are 
the breed to be at once selected. The hens, in 
addition to their gay colors, have a large ver- 
tically flat .comb, which, when they are in high 
health, adds very much to their brilliant ap- 
pearance, particularly if seen in bright sunshine. 
They are larger bodied, and of better propor- 
tions, according to their size, than any other va- 
riety I have yet seen, their bodies rather long, 
plump, and well fleshed ; and the breeder, as well 
as the housewife, generally beholds with delight 
their short legs, full broad breasts, little offal, and 
the large quantity of good profitable flesh, the fla- 
vor and appearance of which is inferior to none. 
When fatted and served at table, the master and 
mistress may be satisfied. 



In size the Dorking ranks next to the large 
Asiatic tribe. It is short-legged and large-bod- 
ied, and readily accumulates flesh, which is of 
good quality. The breed has been introduced 
from England, and has been bred in this coun- 
try for a number of years. Mowbray, when he 
wrote, ranked them in size in the third degree 
of the largest of fowls. The weight of the Dork- 
ings at maturity varies from five to eight pounds, 
and full-grown capons have been known to 
weigh from ten to twelve. 

The Dorking hen is rarely a layer of many 
eggs before she becomes brood}', the average 
number not exceeding twenty-four. The eggs 
are usually of a clear white, but sometimes of 
an ashy-gray color, rather larger in size, weigh- 
ing from 23. to 3 ounces each, rounded at both 
ends, and of a rich flavor. They have the rep- 
utation of being excellent sitters and good moth- 
ers ; but as pullets they do not excel for either 
employment. 

The Dorking cocks are splendid birds. The 
most gorgeous hues are frequently lavished upon 
them, which their large size and symmetrical 
form display to great advantage. The original 
Dorkings are said to have been white, but such 
are now seldom seen. From the specimens we 
have seen, Ave have no reason to believe that 
color is a criterion of purity. Mowbray contends 
that they are of an ivory-white, and that they 
have uniformly five toes or claws on each foot, 
while a writer in "Rees' Cyclopedia" says "the 
colors are as variable as the dung-hill fowl." 
" The most valuable variety for the table at 
present," says Main, "is the Dorking breed. 
They are pure white ; and highly esteemed for 
the whiteness and delicacy of their flesh when 
served at table, and fetch a high price in mark- 
et." 

Among the early importations of pure-blooded 
Dorkings into this country, white more or less 
prevailed ; but many were marked with bands 
or bars of ashy-gray, like our Dominique fowl ; 
some had the hackles of the neck white, with a 
tinge of yellow, and the body of a darker or 
brownish-red, intermixed irregularly with white ; 
while others were beautifully variegated with 
white, black, green, and brown, commonly called 
speckled. The combs of some cocks are large, 



12G 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



serrated, and erect ; in others, large and rose- 
shaped ; wattles large, and of a brilliant coral. 

The Dorking fowl, more or less crossed, or at 
least a race nearly allied to them, called the 
" Sussex breed," the bodies of which are more 
elongated than in the Dorkings, and many of 
them having five toes, are represented as very 
fine. 

In the lithograph figure the reader will rec- 
ognize a true Dorking — a fowl which has re- 
ceived as jealous a care in its breeding at Surrey 
as suits the fancier who goes for the purity of 
blood. So careful arc the breeders of these 
fowls in their own neighborhood, that it has 
been with extreme difficulty that they could be 
obtained at any price. 

Dr. Eben Wight, of Boston, who imported 
some of these fowls as early as 1S39, and has 
paid considerable attention to the rearing of 
poultry, says, in a letter to the author, " So far 
as my experience has gone, the Dorkings are 
decidedly the best breed for laying ; the eggs 
come abundantly, and are of the largest size, 
except when they have been bred 'in-and-in' 
too nmch. I have already seen the effect, and 
therefore hope to receive a new lot of Dorkings 
during the summer." After six months more 
experience, the same gentleman writes me : 
"As regards the Dorkings, I am still strongly 
prepossessed in their favor ; as layers, they are 
certainly very prolific. As an instance, one of 
my neighbors had a pullet which was hatched 
in May : in the same year the pullet began her 
litter of eggs, and hatched out her chickens be- 
fore the first of December ensuing. This is 
only one of the many instances which could be 
advanced in their favor." 

Another breeder says " the Dorkings sustain 
a high character in England as layers, but mine 
have not laid better than our common hen." 

" The Dorking fowls," says another writer, 
"stand first in the estimation of those who have 
raised them. Their meat is fine, their bodies 
are large, and better proportioned than any 
others, being long, full, and well-fleshed in the 
breast ; have short legs, and beautiful plumage, 
with five instead of four toes ; are good layers, 
good sitters, and good nurses. When capon- 
ized, they weigh from nine to ten pounds." 



Dr. Wight some time afterward says, "When 
I received my first lot of Dorking fowls, some 
ten or twelve years since, through a friend who 
was making a periodical visit at Dorking, he 
assured me that it was only after a trial of 
some two years that he could obtain them, and 
then only by a resident to go down to the ship 
and see them safely off for America; the pro- 
ducers of the stock being fearful that other sec- 
tions of England might secure the breed." 

As corroborative of others finding the same 
difficulty, we quote from the editor of the Amer- 
ican Ayricidturist : "As Dorking fowls are like- 
ly to be in vogue now, we think it advisable to 
caution all those who wish to possess good ones, 
to be very careful what they buy. Choice birds 
are extremely difficult to be had, as we found 
to our cost when in England, and it was only 
by special favor we procured them at last." 

In a late number of the American Agricultu- 
rist, the editor remarks, "We are glad to meet 
with the following common-sense article in an 
English publication, the Derby and Chesterfield 
■Reporter, on the Dorking and Game fowls. It 
will be seen that it almost exactly coincides 
with our views as expressed on the same sub- 
ject. When we first met with the Dorking fowl 
in England, we made up our minds that it was 
the best and most scientific-bred bird we had 
ever seen, its fifth toe only excepted, which is 
an excrescence that ought to be got rid of in 
future breeding. A little knowledge in keep- 
ing them justified us in pronouncing them enti- 
tled to the same rank among barn-yard fowls 
that short horns have taken among cattle ; and 
years of experience in breeding them have con- 
firmed us in this opinion. The only trouble 
we have ever met with them is, too close breed- 
ing, which it is essential to obviate. We, how- 
ever, greatly esteem the cross with the Game 
fowls, and yet we desire to see both the Dork- 
ing and Game perpetuated, and kept up pure 
and distinct by themselves. , 

" The time will come when people will get sick 
enough of those great coarse ill-shaped Asiatic 
fowls. We have expi - essed Aery plainly our 
opinion of these fowls ever since we met with 
the first importations. A more ■unscientijic-hved 
domestic bird we do not know. Eor the food 




WHITE D0RJUNG6. 



FARM- YARD FOWLS. 



127 



consumed, it is utterly impossible for such a 
modeled machine to give the same amount of 
good flesh and eggs that the finer and juster 
bred fowls will, such as the Dorking, the Game, 
the Spanish, the Poland, the Dominique, and 
many other varieties we could mention. But 
to the article alluded to : 

" ' The common sense of the public has brought 
back the Dorking fowl to its wonted pre-emi- 
nence. At the sale after the Metropolitan show, 
and also at the Birmingham Exhibition of 1854, 
the Dorking fowl met with readier sale at large 
prices than any other bird. The public voice 
has recognized it as the bird for the English 
farm-yard ; it is altogether the pet of John Bull, 
as possessing great and good qualities without 
ostentation and clamor. The history of our 
country town records no less than three poultry 
sales by public auction, and at each of those the 
Dorking fowl obtained the highest bidding — 
good hens selling for as much as thirty shillings 
each ; and farther, the most successful breeder 
of Dorking fowls is at this moment selling their 
eggs readily at three guineas per dozen. These 
and the Game fowl are the true British poultry. 
They are racy of the soil, and come to us, like 
many other good things, from a remote antiquity. 
If it were possible to ingraft the hardihood and 
the quality of the latter upon the size and early 
maturity of the former, perfection would be ob- 
tained. The veriest gourmand could ask no 
more, for there would be quantity and quality 
enough to satisfy the most capacious and capri- 
cious of appetites. Tenderness and plumpness 
would go hand in hand with a juiciness fitted 
to enrapture an alderman who had passed the 
chair, or even a metropolitan bishop. These 
are great and critical authorities in matters of 
taste. Bland, and unctuous, and racy as they 
appear, they are nevertheless excessively fastid- 
ious — the terror of cooks, and the final appeal 
in all matters appertaining to gustiveness and 
alimentary delight; but even such an ordeal 
could be borne by the fowl that combined in 
itself the respective excellences of the Dork- 
ing and Game breed. The delicate taste of an 
Aerial, who could sit only where the bee sipped, 
and the greediness of an Esquimaux, might be 
contemporaneously gratified under such a com- 



bination, and short only of this, the Dorking 
fowl stands pre-eminent as the fowl for the table.' " 

" Those persons," says an English writer, "and 
those only who saw and studied pen 1G0 at the 
Birmingham poultry show of 1853, can form an 
accurate idea of the size, quality, and beauty of 
a first-rate Dorking fowl. They were the birds 
of the exhibition, and before them the whole 
tribe of Spanish and Cochins, black, white, 
brown, and buff, ' paled their ineffectual fires ;' 
thirty-five pounds' weight of the most delicate 
meat under heaven were enshrined in beautiful 
forms, and robed with a plumage in which rich- 
ness and grace struggled for ascendency. 

"Although this fowl was described by Pliny, 
by Columella, and by Aldrovandus, a thousand 
years ago ; although it has been long known 
to naturalists as the ' Gallus Pcntadactylus,' 
or five-toed hen, and recognized through this 
quality .by every good housewife who sought a 
good fowl in Leadenhall Market, yet strange to 
say, it has been little patronized by the farmers 
in general, or even by persons of greater pre- 
tensions. Mr. Trotter, who has recently received 
a prize from the Royal Agricultural Society for 
the best 'Essay on Poultry,' devotes eighteen 
lines only to the Dorking fowl, and in this quar- 
ter page commits several errors respecting them. 
He says ' this breed degenerates when removed 
from its native place.' Kow, it is a fact, that 
birds bred in Lancashire have hitherto beaten 
all competitors. The Rev. Mr. Boys, in Kent, 
took the chief prizes at Reigate, in Surrey (the 
very home of the Dorkings) ; but his birds, which 
he valued at £200, were beaten utterly at Bir- 
mingham by fowls from Lancashire, Derbyshire, 
and Shropshire. If I were to write that the 
Dorkings of Derbyshire may challenge the world 
it would appear like a big, burly, blustering sen- 
timent, 'full of sound and fury signifying no- 
thing ;' but it is nevertheless not very far from 
the truth. Take not one county away, or one 
division, or one town, but remove the birds of 
one individual from competition, and then it is 
the modest opinion of a Derbyshire yeoman, 
that the Dorking fowl, within a ten-mile radius 
of his county town, may safely vie with all Eik 
gland, and therefore with all the world. To 
the proof: in judging of public questions, wo 



128 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



can be guided only by public results. If asked, 
where are the best Leicester sheep in England, 
the reply at once is, at Mr. Sandy's, Holm Pier- 
point, Nottingham — and why? because, in a 
royal competition, open to the United Kingdom, 
he carries off the prize. People may hug them- 
selves with self-complacency, and natter them- 
selves that they have better at home ; but let them 
compete, and perhaps they will discover that 
there is something in a home atmosphere which 
leads to optical illusions, and thereby to defective 
judgment. A little solitary hill in a wide plain 
looks wonderfully large, for want of others with 
which to compare it ; and both cattle and poul- 
try have been known to look much larger by 
themselves than by the side of their rivals. 

"It is a question how the variety known in 
England under the name of ' Speckled Dork- 
ings' was first produced. Some maintain that 
the pure white Dorkings are the original breed 
with five toes, and that the speckled and gray 
Dorkings is a recent and improved cross, by 
which the size was much increased between the 
original white breed and the Malay, or some 
other large fowl. From this opinion I must en- 
tirely dissent on the ground of strong, though 
not absolutely conclusive, evidence to the con- 
trary. It seems to me that Columella's favorite 
sort of hen could not differ much from the 
speckled Dorkings as they at present exist. He 
says: 'Let them be of a reddish or dark plu- 
mage, and with black wings Let the 

breeding hens, therefore, be of a choice color, 
a robust body, square-built, full-breasted, with 
large heads, with upright and bright-red combs. 

Those are believed to be the best bred 

which have five toes.' It appears that Colu- 
mella had the white sort, but he rejected them ; 
for he advises: 'Let the white ones be avoided, 
for they are generally both tender and less vi- 
vacious, and also are not found to be prolific,' 
faults which are still attributed to them by some. 
Mr. Courtney, in a letter to Captain Morgan, 
who imported some of these fowls in 1845, says : 
' The old white sort is altogether bred out, and 
the speckled and gray varieties are now all the 
rage, and altogether are, perhaps, the best barn- 
yard fowls in existence.' " 



Mr. Dixon says, after speaking of the good 
qualities of the speckled Dorkings, " With all 
these merits they are not found to be a profitable 
stock if kept thorough-bred and unmixed. Their 
powers seem to fail at an early age. They are also 
apt to pine away and die just at the point of 
reaching maturity ; particularly the finest spec- 
imens, that is, the most thorough-bred, are de- 
stroyed by this malady. These, and a few other 
apparently trifling defects, seem to show that 
with the speckled Dorkings the art of breeding 
has arrived at its limits." 

"Fearing total ruin in our chicken depart- 
ment (Dorkings)," says A. B. Allen, in the Amer- 
ican Agriculturist, " two years ago we displaced 
the Dorking cock, and introduced a thorough- 
bred, spirited Shawl-necked Game-cock into the 
yard. The immediate consequence of this was 
the fecundity of the eggs, almost every one hatch- 
ing that Avas set, the rearing of almost every 
chicken, and the replenishing of the yard with 
a fine robust stock of beautiful young birds, pos- 
sessing the valuable qualities although somewhat 
lessened size of the Dorking, with the vigor, 
hardihood, and fecundity of the Game. Select- 
ing our best pullets, we disposed of the Game- 
cock, for he was a pugnacious rascal, we brought 
back two or three young Dorking cocks, bred 
from a part of the old stock at another yard, to 
which we had removed them, as we still wished 
to retain a preponderance of that blood. Last 
year we raised over a hundred as good chickens 
as ever graced a barn-} r ard, yielding as fine, del- 
icate, and juicy flesh as the original Dorkings. 
They are abundant layers, of good size, beauti- 
ful plumage, and altogether, please us exactly. 
How long we may keep them so, is to be tried, 
as they are mongrels ; but alternating between 
the Game and Dorking, as necessity may appear 
to demand — and wanting no others so long as 
they breed satisfactorily — we hope to keep them 
as they should be." 

The chief points of merit in a Dorking may 
be briefly stated as a broad, deep breast, broad, 
square shoulders, short legs, with, in the hens 
especially, a well-rounded stern. 

A cock is about at his best at two years old s 
and still excellent at three. 




GRAY DORKINGS. 



FARM-YARD FOWLS. 



129 




THE BUCKS COUNTY FOWL. 



THE BOCKS COUNTY FOWL. 

This breed was first brought into notice in 
Bucks County, Pennsylvania — hence its name. 
It has little to recommend it except great size. 
The hens lay a few large and well-flavored 
eggs of a dark cinnamon color; but are great 
eaters, poor layers, and miserable sitters, sel- 
dom laying more than twelve or fifteen eggs be- 
fore they become broody. They are only prof- 
itable to breed for making capons, which are 
sometimes sold in the market, weighing from 
eighteen to twenty pounds the pair, and sold at 
from $5 to $6. We bred them for two or three 
years, and then discarded them as unprofitable. 

In corroboration of our opinion, we give the 
testimony of others. Thomas P. Hunt, in the 
New England Farmer, says " the large Bucks 
County hens, weighing as much as the Malays, 
are not good layers, and they are very apt to 
have double yolks." 

Thomas P. Thurlow, of Pennsylvania, who 
has paid considerable attention to poultry, in a 
letter to the author says, "As far as I am ac- 
quainted with the Bucks County breed, they 
would not do for layers, as they very seldom lay 
more than ten or twelve eggs at a litter. They 
are profitable to breed from, provided you can 



make capons of them. They are often sold in 
the Philadelphia market at from $4 to $5 per 
pair, but they eat a great deal more than the 
common fowls." 

This breed of fowls have received some celeb- 
rity in the vicinity of Philadelphia as a valua- 
ble variety of fowl, principally on account of its 
great size. "I have seen many specimens of 
the Bucks County fowl," says L. P. Allen, "paid 
some attention to its habits, and learned from 
those who have tried them, their principal mer- 
its. It is a large bird, weighing at maturity eight, 
and even ten pounds; rather thinly feathered, 
of various colors, from gray to black, and fre- 
quently speckled black and white. They are 
coarse in their legs, tall and bony, and have evi- 
dently a cross in their composition. They are 
but moderate layers ; their eggs large and good. 
They are bad sitters, frequently breaking their 
eggs, on account of their great weight and size, 
by crushing them ; are not hardy, and, on the 
whole, will not compare with the common farm- 
yard fowl for ordinary uses. They do not breed 
equally in size and appearance, showing them 
evidently to be a cross from other breeds; but 
from what they are derived, other than the Ma- 
lay [the Cochin and Shanghai were then un- 
known in this country], it is difficult to say. 



ISO 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 




THE OSTRICH FOWL. 



THE OSTRICH FOWL. 

This valuable variety, it is said, originated in 
Bucks county, Pennsylvania, and are called by 
some " Booby fowl," by others " Bucks County," 
or "Ostrich fowl." The specimens from which 
our portraits were taken were presented to the 
author by Dr. Eben Wight, of Boston, who in- 
formed us he procured them from Maryland, 
where they are known as the " Ostrich fowl." 
In a letter accompanying the fowls, he says : 
" This breed are the largest of fowls, and from 
them you will obtain the largest-sized eggs. I 
have had eggs from this breed weighing 4 ounces 
avoirdupois weight. I could have sold fifty pair 
if I had them to spare." We found the above 
in regard to the size of the eggs correct ; but 
since the introduction of the Cochin and Shang- 
hai fowls they would not be considered the "lar- 
gest of fowls," their weight being only from 5 
to 7 pounds after being dressed. Dr. Kittridge, 
of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, however, says, 
" the cocks, when full grown, are represented to 
weigh from 9 to 10 pounds and the hens from 7 to 
8 pounds live weight." He also says "some of 
their eggs weigh over Si ounces each, and meas- 
ure 3 inches in circumference." We have had 
one that measured 3i inches in circumference 
and 7i lengthwise over the egg. 



The color of the cock is a dark blue-black, 
with the ends of his feathers tipped with white ; 
wings tinged with a bright yellow, or gold color ; 
hackles dark glossy -blue ; double or rose comb, 
and wattles large ; legs dark ; a bold, lively car- 
riage, and a stately walk. 

The hen does not differ much from the cock 
in color or form, being deep, short, plump, and 
thick-set in body ; legs short and of a dark col- 
or, and of medium size ; she has a single comb, 
serrated, generally falling over on one side, like 
the Spanish hen ; wattles large and brilliant. 

This breed of fowls has one peculiarity which 
we have discovered. When first feathered they 
are very dark colored ; the white tips are quite 
small, and on moulting the white increases, 
and continues to increase with every successive 
moult until the white predominates. They are 
esteemed good layers, and, for a large breed, 
good sitters and good mothers ; sometimes lay 
from forty to fifty eggs before they show any 
inclination to sit ; eggs large and nutritious ; 
the flesh, unlike that of the Malay or Shanghai, 
white, firm, and fine flavored. In many re- 
spects they resemble the Dorking, and we con- 
sider them fully equal to that famous breed. 

We are under particular obligations to Dr. 
Kittridge, of Portsmouth, for the following in- 
formation regarding the "Booby fowl," which 



FARM-YARD FOWLS. 



13L 




IUE 1X)LT0N GEAYS. 



from his description, appears to be the Ostrich 
fowl under a different name : " Booby is a large 
fowl, weighing from 6 to 9 pounds. Of tbose that 
I received, the smallest weighed 6 pounds, the 
largest 1\ pounds ; the cock 9 pounds. These, 
of course, were live weights. Their invariable 
color is a black ground with white spots all over 
them ; the legs are black ; they are shaped like 
a turkey ; they are great layers, and are not so 
much inclined to sit as the common hen; lay- 
ing forty or fifty eggs before they are broody. I 
procured mine from Pennsylvania." 

In a letter from a gentleman in Philadelphia, 
who procured these fowls for the Doctor, he 
says, "I shall send two lots of fowls, a cock 
and three hens each. The Boobies ai-e speckled, 
and were furnished by a German, and are no 
doubt a year old. There will be one hen with 
these that the good honest man said was much 
superior, and for which he was offered two dol- 
lars on his way to the city. He had no name 
for this fowl, but said these are the greatest fowls 
ever seen in our part of the country." 

The editor of the New England Farmer says, 
"We have received from our friend Dr. Kit- 
tridge, of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, six Boo- 
by hens' eggs. These hens are considered as 
the greatest of layers by those who have kept 
them; and it appears that those which Dr. Kit- 
tridge has have laid well after getting over the 
effects of traveling. Owing to their being moved, 
they did not lay much for fifteen days ; then 



they (four in number) laid thirty-six eggs in 
ten days, and none showed a disposition to sit 
excepting one, which he thought not of the Boo- 
by breed." 

The Portsmouth Journal gives an account of 
two varieties of hens of more than three times 
the common size, and of proportionate value, 
which can be as easily raised as the common 
hen. "They have been raised," says the edi- 
tor, "by Dr. Kittridge, of that town, are called 
Boobies, and are speckled. The cock weighs 
ten pounds, and some of the hens eight pounds. 
They are prolific layers. Some of these eggs 
weigh over 2>\ ounces each, and measure 3 inch- 
es in circumference." 

THE BOLTON GRAYS. 

This variety of fowls derive their name from 
having been extensively and superiorly cultiva- 
ted in and about Bolton, England. From the 
intermixture of black and white, they are termed 
by some "Creole fowls:" at the present time 
they are denominated in England " Silver-pen- 
ciled Hamburgs," because many of them are 
imported from Holland. 

Both sexes of this sub-variety arc character- 
ized by a compactness and neatness peculiarly 
their own. Their color and size so nearly cor- 
responds with the silver pheasant, that they arc 
sometimes crossed with that beautiful bird. The 
cock has a full bright-red rose comb, about three 
quarters of an inch wide, erect, though low on 



132 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



the head, and regularly pointed, but termina- 
ting in a single point behind, which should ex- 
tend far back and consequently upward ; ear- 
lobe, white and large ; wattles large, round, and 
red; head small and fine; beak, short and white ; 
plumage entirely white, with the exception of 
the wings and tail ; the wings barred very regu- 
larly with black ; tail ample, very erect, meas- 
uring nine inches to the top of the highest curve 
of the sickle feathers, which are of great length, 
and with the rest of the tail feathers of a highly 
iridescent black, their edges only being lightly 
margined with white, silvering, as it were, the 
whole plume. Mottled feathering is objection- 
able in the tail ; but comparatively few birds 
attain the more perfect form described and fig- 
ured on page 131. They are about sixteen inch- 
es high, and weigh about 4 or 4£ pounds. 

The hen displays the peculiar markings which 
characterize this sub-variety much more dis- 
tinctly than her mate, and as the penciled 
feather is strictly applicable only to the Bolton 
or Silver Hamburg variety, we may here give 
a specimen feather. The ground color must be 




clear creamy white, and marked with at least 
four parallel transverse dark bars, as if an art- 



ist had worked them in with a black-lead pencil. 
The hen's head is very small and fine ; comb, 
double-rose, shaped like that of the cock, buu 
very much smaller ; ear-lobes, white ; eyes in 
both sexes large and prominent ; neck-hackle 
creamy white, without a black feather ; the rest 
of her plumage, even to the tips of the tail-feath- 
ers, regularly penciled throughout ; the tail 
feathers often have a broad black tip ; legs and 
feet pale blue, and perfectly clean and feather- 
less; nails white. Under the belly is often 
white, but the less of this the better. Spangled 
feathers mixed with the white is very objection- 
able — as is also that confusion of coloring or 
sprinkling of black among the white, which Ave 
should suspect first obtained for such specimens 
the designation of the " Silver Moss fowl ;" a 
bird whose penciling has run or become blended 
with the ground color, conveys a good represent- 
ation of the erratic growth of moss or sea-weed. 
"Weight of hen about 3£ pounds. 

Mowbray, to whom the merits at least of orig- 
inality and practical knowledge ought to be con- 
ceded, appears to have been acquainted only 
with the English stock of this breed. He says 
of the Bolton Grays : " This variety, apparently 
the crack breed of their vicinity, but entirely 
unknown in the metropolis, is described by the 
Rev. Mr. Ashworth, near Bolton, Lancashire, 
as follows : small-sized, short in the leg, and 
plump in the make. The color of the genuine 
kind, invariably pure white in the whole lapp<:l 
of the neck ; the body white, thickly spotted 
with bright black, sometimes running into a gri i- 
zle, with one or more black bai - s at the extremi- 
ty of the tail. They are chiefly esteemed as ve7'y 
constant layers, though their color would mai k 
them for good table fowls." 

The Bolton Grays, when bred to a nicety, 
can scarcely be distinguished from each other 
when apart ; and when so bred, there is not a 
more beautiful fowl among our domestic poul- 
try. 

They are rather impatient of confinement, and 
succeed best when they can have the run of a 
clean pasture or common. Seven feet fences, 
where they are intended to be confined, will not 
be more than sufficient height for their safe cus- 
todv. 



FAEM-YAED FOWLS. 



133 




THE FRIZZLED FOUL. 



The hens, if young, continue to lay nearly 
throughout the year, which entitles them to 
rank among the best egg-producers; but the 
eggs, which are white, are small, weighing only 
about 1 i ounces each. As they seem to have no 
desire to sit, it is advisable to hatch their eggs 
under a common hen. 

THE FRIZZLED FOWL. 

This fowl, more curious than useful, is said 
to be a native of Japan, and other ]5arts of East- 
ern Asia, and is frequently called the "Frieze- 
land fowl," from confounding the proper term 
frizzled with Friezeland. Captain Steadman has 
observed, in his "Voyage to Surinam and the 
interior of Guiana," that the natives rear a very 
small species of fowls whose feathers are ruffled, 
and which seem to be natives of that country. 

"This fowl," says Layard, in a letter from 
Ceylon, "is called by the Ceylonese Cuprikukullo. 
It is found here but rarely, and the natives say 
they came from Batavia." Sonnini and Tem- 
minck agree that it is a native of Southern Asia ; 



but that it is domesticated, and thrives well in 
Java, Sumatra, and all the Philippine Islands. 
It is the gallus crispits (Frizzled fowl) of Brisson. 
Martin says, " this breed is originally from 
Eastern Asia, and is often seen in Java, Suma- 
tra, and India. It is a new variety, and not a 
distinct species, as some have supposed." It is 
occasionally met with in this country, but is not 
common. It is called by some " French fowl." 
It takes its name of frizzled, from the feathers 
— with the exception of the tail — being turned 
or curled toward the head, giving the appear- 
ance, as has been facetiously remarked, of hav- 
ing been " drawn through a knot-hole." Here, 
at the north, our climate is even too severe for 
the grown fowls. They are tender — the feath- 
ers do not afford protection against wet, and 
they are unable to bear exposure. " The open, 
ruffled appearance of their feathers," says anoth- 
er writer, "suggests the opinion that they must 
be unsuited to our climate ; but those best ac- 
quainted with them inform us that they are 
hardy, and do not suffer more than other fowls 



131 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 




THE SILKY FOWL. 



from the weather of this country. They hare 
the power, it seems, to bring their feathers close 
together during the occurrence of rain. 

Characteristics. — Temminck states that the 
prevailing color of the wild race is white, and 
that in these the legs are smooth ; but there are 
many specimens variously colored with black 
and brown, and some of them have feathered 
or booted legs. 

The cock has a beak much hooked; hackle 
slightly tinged with yellow ; comb cupped and 
toothed ; ear-lobe white ; feathers over the entire 
body white, and projecting from being curved 
back from the body, so as to give the bird an 
appearance of being ruffled, and of having its 
feathers rubbed in the wrong way ; tail ample 
and well sickled; legs bluish; height 18 inch- 
es; weight 4j pounds. 

They are not good layers, and their eggs aver- 
age little more than 2 ounces in weight. The 
hens are good mothers, and the chickens are har- 
dy. Though small, they are good table fowls. 



The specimens from which our portraits were 
taken were presented to us by Dr. E. Wight, of 
Boston, and were of a brown color. 

THE SILKY FOWL. 

This is one of the accidental varieties that 
now and then break out in most yards, which 
Temminck describes as a distinct species. By 
modern writers it is also considered a species 
rather than a variety. It is of good size, and 
the whole body is covered with feathers, the 
webs of which are disunited somewhat in the 
manner of some of the feathers of the ostrich, 
the emeu, and the peacock, and appear some- 
what like hairs and glossy silk. 

Allusions to this bird are frequent, both in the 
works of the older writers on the poultry-yard, 
and in the early travelers in China, Japan, 
and some parts of India. The extreme singu- 
larity of their appearance would probably at- 
tract observation where the far greater merits, 
in an economical point of view, of the Malay 



FARM-YAKD FOWLS. 



]:;: 



or Shanghai were disregarded. "Anomalies 
have been called," says Browne, "finger-points 
that point the way to unsuspected truths. Hence 
the strange irregularities which we often meet 
with in our domestic fowls better deserve the 
attention of naturalists than any favor of poul- 
try-keepers. They may safely be pronounced 
worthless as a stock, and have a more appro- 
priat enlace in the menagerie or museum than 
in the poultry-yard." 

Temminck states in general terms that the 
Silky fowl is»a native of India. But Mr. Blyth 
more specifically, "the only Silky Fowls 
1 have seen here (Calcutta) were from China, 
<>r Malacca, or Singapore ; the latter with single 
red comb and wattles ; the former with com- 
plex rose comb, blackish, I think, and a very 
short, stubby beak, and a quantity of glaucous 
blue skin in place of wattles, imparting a most 
remarkable appearance." 

By some writers on poultry, the Silky fowl 
has been indiscriminately mixed up with the 
Bantam, although the distinctive character of 
their figure, no less than plumage, would sug- 
gest the propriety of assigning them a separate 
chapter. 

This is the breed which gave rise, in 177G, to 
the Fable of the "Babbit fowl," which was ex- 
hibited in Brussels, as the produce of a rabbil 
and a common hen, which was merely a Silky 
fowl of Japan. It is said that Buffon was for a 
long while tensed by Letters from two pretended 
naturalists of Brussels, one of whom was a preb- 
endary, and the other a Jew merchant; they 
were continually writing to him in order to con- 
vince him of the existence of the Babbit foul. 
Buffon had answered several times by arguments 
that proved the impossibility of Buch a dispro- 

portioned connection. Their credulous obstina- 
cy at last put him ont of temper, and be silenced 
them by a joke too bad to be inserted heir, but 
which rid him forever of tin- importunity of the 
Jew and the prebendary. 

Some of this description of fowls were import- 
ed into England a few yean Bince from Cal- 
cutta, and they, with their progeny, proved equal 
to the climate of the southwestern districts 9f 
England. Some, however, which were Bent 
into Lancashire Buffered bo severely that the 



attempt to keep them was abandoned. From 
the peculiar character of their plumage they are 
not calculated to endure a low temperature or 

excessive moisture. 

This breed is said to be indigenous in Japan, 
where it is much prized, and is also found in 
China, where they are frequently offered in 
cages for sale to foreigners. 

Description. — Their most usual color is white 
with a black skin, and their bones are also cov- 
ered with a dark pigment. The feathers have 
their web separated from the point of the junc- 
tion with the shaft, so that their covering seems 
of hair rather than that which is ordinarily al- 
lotted to birds. The tail feather-, in good spec- 
imens, should resemble line gauze, for here 
their texture is closer than on any other part of 
the body ; the tail itself is short — little mi 
veloped, in fact, than that of the Shanghai — but 
a sickle tail, such as is represented in the figure, 
is not (infrequent ; in these too, the comb 
ried back farther than is common. 

The comb is usually depressed, approaching 
in form to the Malay; but variations in this re- 
spect are frequent, and single combs with those 
of an intermediate character are by no means 
uncommon — the one first mentioned, however, 
is the best form ; its color, with that of the wat- 
tles, is a dark crimson, frequently becoming n 

dull leaden hue: the face Icing thinly Ci 

with feathers shows his dusky c plexion, which 

i- still farther brought into relief by a whil 

lobe, often tinged with light blue: of this latter 
color are the legs, which Bhould be bea> ily feath- 
ered. Individuals of this sort differ in • 
to color, as in other varieties; BOme arc pure 
v.hiic and others of a dingy-brown, and all of 
them w ith dark colored legs, nor are I 

alvvav - leathered. 

There i- another spoken of as a distinct vari- 
ety — the "Yellow Silky fowl," but its origin is 
supposed to be a cross between the yello 

(am with the white Silky fowl; chickens have 
been bred of several color-, blue, spotted, and va- 
rious Bhades of yellow. By the intermixture i f 

yellow blOQd, however, the bright blue leg WIS 

lost, which i- a ■_ 1 feature in the white 

We have known several ill-!. line- of fowl- 

of this description, having sprang from 



136 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 




THE KUJIPLESS FOWL. 



of the ordinary character. They are tender, 
and more difficult to rear than the other va- 
rieties, owing probably to their destitution of the 
common feathers. 

THE RUMPLESS FOWL. 

This is the "Rumpless or Persian cock" of 
Latham, and the "Rumpkin or Tailless fowl" 
of others. 

Among the monstrosities of the domestic fowl 
which are particularly curious, and worthy the 
attention of the student of nature, may be men- 
tioned the Rumpkin or Tailless cock, believed 
at present to be found in its wild state in the 
Island of Ceylon. 

Some writers, among whom is Temminck, 
consider this bird a distinct species rather than 
a variety ; that it is a wild breed, a native of the 
Ceylon forests, and is called by the natives Wal- 
li/cikilli, or " Cock of the Woods." But Mr. Lay- 
ard, writing from Ceylon in 1850, says, "The 
Rumpless Fowl is not a wild inhabitant of this 
island, in spite of M. Temminck. It is a rather 
rare tame introduction from Cochin, I am told. 



It may appear like boasting, but I can confi- 
dently say I am more acquainted with the Cey- 
lon Fauna than any man living, and if the bird 
had existed wild I must have seen it. Walli- 
kikilli is the name for the female of g 'alius Stan- 
leys meaning literally, Walli, jungle, and kakilli, 
hen." 

This bird is looked upon by some to be a 
native of Persia. Buffon thinks, on the contra- 
ry, that Virginia is the place whence it sprung. 
He grounds his opinion on the one hand, on 
what is reported by the Philosophical Transac- 
tions of 1693, that when fowls are led to that 
country they seem to lose their rumps ; and on 
the other, on naturalists having only begun to 
mention fowls without tails after the discovery 
of America. " I am not of that opinion," says 
Main, "which appears not admissible. In fact 
modern travelers have not confirmed the loss 
of the rump which the English experience in 
Virginia, and it is positively known, that in the 
Wild parts of America, in the hottest even, this 
privation does not take place." 

Blaine, in his " Rural Sports," fays, " Of the 



FARM-YAED FOWLS. 



13-; 



feathered tribes of Ceylon, the most remarkable 
is the Tailless Cock, at present, we believe, only 
known in its wild state in the forests," etc. 

If the Rumpless fowl be really a remnant of 
the original Fauna of Ceylon, it will be a pity 
if it be suffered to become extinct, although it 
be one of Blumenbach's defective monsters. 
, " It is hardly possible," says Blaine, " to cavil 
at Temminck's evidence of its existence in Cey- 
lon." In reply to Buffon's fairy tale that cocks, 
when transported to Virginia, lose that portion 
of their person on which the tail grows — a ro- 
mance that seems to have imposed on the sober 
Dr. Latham — he says, "We can positively state 
that Buffon's opinion has not been confirmed ; 
this Rumpless cock was not originated in the 
New World, since the primitive species inhabits 
the Island of Ceylon. The hen makes her nest 
on the ground; it is rudely constructed with 
fine grass, and resembles the nest of the par- 
tridge. The disposition of this bird is wild ; the 
cock utters his crow, which, though less sono- 
rous than that of our domestic cock, has still 
the same cadence. The Cingalese designate 
this species by the name of Wallikikilli ; which 
means ' Cock of the Woods.' " 

Aldrovandus describes the cock as black, in- 
terspersed with yellow streaks, and the chief 
wing feathers white, the breast white, and feet 
ash-gray. The hen has a smaller comb than 
the cock, and is of a rusty color except three 
black feathers in each wing. 

Mr. Dixon remarks that "the cock which 
they call Persian differs from our own sorts 
mainly in having no tail ; in other respects it is 
very much like them. The cock, however, has 
a sort of tail, as shown in one of the portraits on 
the opposite page. It was all black, sprink- 
led with yellow lines ; the first quill-feathers 
were white, the rest black ; the feet ashy. The 
hen was like our own with respect to carriage, 
and of extremely different color from the male, 
whence I attach little weight to diversity of color, 
except the three quill-feathers, which were black. 
Her comb, if you can compare it with the comb 
of the male, was much smaller. 

"In the very light breeds the hen is white, 
with yellowish neck-hackles; rose comb; slight- 
ly grizzled tail ; and legs bluish-white as in 



the cock. Height about fourteen inches, and 
weight rather under five pounds. Their eggs 
average two and a half ounces each in weight, 
but they are no better than the common fowls 
as layers." 

Hens of this species are without the caudal 
feathers, as well as all the coverts, which in 
other birds are planted on the rump ; the cock of 
this species is also distinguished from the others 
that we have described by having his comb 
round, and without indentations. "I am un- 
acquainted," says Blaine, "with the colors of 
the primitive female of this rare species, the 
Governor of Ceylon, to whom I am indebted 
for information respecting this wild cock, hav- 
ing sent me only a very old male, and a second 
individual, male also, at the stage when the comb 
and wattles begin to show themselves. These 
individuals have the same distinctive characters, 
and the colors of their plumage absolutely cor- 
respond. The different domestic races of this 
species are distinguished by different colored 
plumage : most of the cocks have indented 
combs like those of our farm-yard fowls ; others 
have also the double comb." In all the speci- 
mens we have seen the comb has become either 
single or serrated, but nearly as often doubled — 
another proof of changes by domestication. 

Aldrovandus's Rumpless cock is represented 
with a large double comb, that is protruded back- 
ward like a tail. They are not small, being at 
least of the average size of fowls. No informa- 
tion is given as to their laying or sitting quali- 
ties. 

Mr. Nolan, of Dublin, gives them this faint 
praise: " I consider them rather a superior de- 
scription of fowl ; and the hen-wives who muti- 
late their stock, both cocks and liens, by depriv- 
ing them of their tail, can not object to the 
Rumpless, as they are perfectly unincumbered 
by that appendage." 

We have never before heard of the cruel, and 
we might say brutal practice of cutting off a 
fowl's rump. It certainly docs nol add to its 
beauty when alive; and we do not think that 
many would be found who would torture it when 

living, merely to make it look more compart 
when on the table. >>'or do we imagine it would 
take less food to sustain it. 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 




Sl'ANISII FOWL. 



THE SPANISH FOWL. 

Of this beautiful and noble race of fowls un- 
til recently few specimens have found their way 
into this country. They possess very striking 
characteristics in their large single comb and 
white face ; and however these features have 
undergone changes, either from breeding " in- 
and-in," or the admixture of other families, we 
have usually sufficient evidence of their origin, 
even when disfigured by illegitimate alliances. 
At the period of Mowbray's writing it appears 
to have been scarcely known. 

Dixon, in his "Ornamental Poultry," re- 
marks : " The Spanish breed is, in all probabil- 
ity, of ancient and remote origin, and does re- 
ally seem to have reached us from the country 
after which it is named." 

The name Spanish is said by some writers to 
be a misnomer, as they were originally brought 
by the Spaniards from the West Indies, and al- 
though subsequently propagated in Spain, it is 
now very difficult to procure good specimens 
from that country. They were taken, in con- 
siderable numbers, from Spain into Holland, 



where they have for many years been bred with 
great care ; and it is from that quarter our best 
specimens come. 

The introduction of the Spanish fowl, there- 
fore, into Holland and the Low Countries may 
be reasonably assigned to the period when the 
latter territory belonged to Spain, and constant 
intercourse was maintained with the peninsula 
by the commercial habits of the Dutch nation. 

The names by which many of our domestic 
poultry are at present known to us, so far as 
they are indicative of their native country, are 
frequently matters of discussion. That Poland 
gave us the tufted bird, so remarkable an orna- 
ment to our yards, or that the Hamburgs were 
originally of German extraction, the evidence 
that we now possess has not yet certified ; but 
with Spanish the case is different ; though pos- 
sibly the wider term of the "Mediterranean 
fowl" might be still more applicable. 

From Gibraltar to Syria — north and south — 
the countries that border on that vast inland sea, 
with its numerous islands, abound with fowls 
that bear such resemblance to the Spanish race, 
in the striking points we have alluded to, as may 



FARM-YARD FOWLS. 



130 



warrant our assigning them to one common 
stock. Names, also, that denote some subdivis- 
ions of this family, strengthen our conclusion ; 
for the Anconas and Minorcas derive their des- 
ignations from localities that carry us far beyond 
mere Spanish boundaries. 

We copy the following description from Mar- 
tin, who seems to hold this breed in high esti- 
mation : "Like the Black Poland, this breed is 
clad in glossy sable plumage, but is not crested 
with a top-knot; on the contrary, the comb is 
remarkably large, single, and often pendent on 
one side ; the wattles are extremely developed, 
and the skin below the ear on each cheek is 
white, contrastingly strongly with the scarlet of 
the comb and wattles, and the glossy black of 
the plumage. The cock is a noble and stately 
bird, remarkable for size and height : it is in 
fact superior in stature to all our domestic races, 
if we except the Kulm, or Malay fowl, and at 
the same time it possesses excellent symmetry. 
The hen is also of good size and good figure. 
Brought originally, as it is believed, from Spain, 
this breed is nevertheless very hardy, and is 
reared as easily as any of inferior importance. 
To those who breed fowls for the sake of the 
flesh and eggs, this fine variety can not be too 
strongly recommended. The flesh is delicately 
white, tender, and juicy, and the hens are free 
layers. Some persons complain that the hens 
are far better layers than sitters. Their pecul- 
iar disinclination to sit is very remarkable, and 
is regarded as their most valuable characteristic ; 
for, in our experience, we have been exceeding- 
ly annoyed by the constant propensity which 
some other breeds have manifested in this re- 
spect. The eggs are of very large size, and of 
first-rate flavor. 

" Inferior cross breeds of this Spanish variety 
are very often to be seen ; but such are not 
worth keeping. Let the pure strain only be 
adopted ; it may be preserved from degenerating 
by the occasional introduction of males of the 
same race, and up to the mark in every point, 
which have descended by a collateral branch 
from the same root, and which have, therefore, 
only a remote connection with the stock to which 
they are admitted. It is thus that breeders may 
often benefit each other by mutual exchanges." 



Varieties. — The varieties of the Spanish breed 
consist of the white and those going by the 
name of "Minorcas," which have neither the 
white face nor high-bred carriage of the pure 
bird. To these we may add the "Andalusian," 
lately introduced and exhibited in England. 

The "Minorcas" are very common in Dev- 
onshire and Cornwall, England, though by no 
means limited to these counties. In the west- 
ern parts of Cornwall especially, birds of this va- 
riety have long been valued as first-rate layers, 
and for some years they formed the one princi- 
pal stock of the yards. The milder temperature 
of the south of England would offer peculiar 
advantages to the successful management of 
these fowls, which manifest impatience of se- 
vere cold. 

A pen of white Spanish fowls were exhibit- 
ed at Birmingham in 1852. "But," remarks a 
writer on the subject, "regarding the striking 
contrast of jet-black plumage, the coral comb, 
and the white face, as constituting the great 
beauty of the Spanish family, we can accord but 
limited approbation to this variety, where both 
cheek and comb are sadly compromised by the 
substitution of so unfavorable a color for their 
mutual relief. I have known white Spanish 
bred from black birds, but their offspring have 
been black again." 

Cocks will average 7 pounds, while the hens 
may be stated at about 5i pounds. Pullets 
hatched in April commence laying in October, 
and continue throughout the winter. Two pul- 
lets and three hens, it is said, averaged 120 eggs 
each in the year. The hens seldom show any 
desire to sit ; but when this does happen, they 
prove themselves excellent mothers. The chick- 
ens are feathered early, are hardy, and very pre- 
cocious. As a table fowl, they are considered full 
equal to the Dorking. "But when we come to 
speak of Spanish as layers, our award of praise,"' 
says a breeder of them, " can hardly go too far, 
either as to the actual number of eggs laid or 
their aggregate annual weight." 

As regards the Spanish hens as layers, a writer 
in the "Poultry Book" says: "The hens com- 
menced laying the last week in January, 1852, 
and continued laving two days, Stopping one, 
down to the middle of November. They lay. 



110 



THE AMEEICAN POULTEEEE'S COMPANION. 



in my opinion, ten months in the year. The 
average weight from old hens is 2f ounces." 
Another writer remarks : " As for eggs, I reck- 
oned last year (1852) that my Spanish hens laid 
six days a week from early in February to late 
in August (they moulted in July). Between 
November and February they averaged, per- 
haps, three eggs a week. I consider them to 
be nearly (not quite) as good layers as my Shang- 
hais, but very superior in the weight of the eggs, 
which are large and handsome ; broad, but slight- 
ly rounded at each end ; one end, however, is 
not so much more pointed than the other, as in 
some fowls. As for weight, I am cautious in 
speaking. I know that last year, from Eebruary 
to August I considered their average weight to 
be above 3j ounces, but under 4 ounces. The 
largest were in May, many of them weighing 
4i ounces ; but the average of those laid in 
December and January I should place at 21 
ounces." 

The color of the Spanish egg never varies ; it 
is clear white, with a smooth, polished surface. 
In selecting such as we desired to sit, we should 
follow the same rule as with Shanghais. Pul- 
lets are commonly found to commence laying 
from five and a half to six months old, and they 
certainly may be described as good layers, save 
only in the severe winter months. With regard 
to a tendency toward laying soft or unshelled 
eggs, it is the same to which all great layers are 
naturally subject. 

Chickens are marked with a soft blue-black 
down, with white on the face, throat, and breast ; 
and when feathering begins there is usually a 
longer interval than we wish between the cast- 
ing off of the one covering and the assumption 
of the other. They are longer coming to ma- 
turity than other young poultry; they suffer 
much during the growth of their quill feathers, 
frequently pining away and dying at that period 
in spite of every attention. 

In the habits of the Spanish fowl there is no- 
thing peculiar to require notice ; they are not, 
it is true, so quiet and disinclined to roaming as 
the Shanghai ; but if well-fed at home, they will 
not be found to stray far from their walk. Nor 
are they quarrelsome among themselves to a 
degree at all troublesome. 



Characteristics.— The thorough-bred Spanish 
fowl should be entirely black, as far as feathers 
are concerned, and when in high condition dis- 
play a greenish metallic lustre. An erect brill- 
iant scarlet comb, serrated ; with a clear milk- 
white face and ear-lobes ; dark-blue legs ; and 
a lofty carriage. "Wattles of the hen small, but 
large and very conspicuous in the cocks, and, 
like the comb, of a light scarlet. This marked 
contrast of black, bright-red, and white, makes 
the head of the Spanish cock as handsome as 
that of any other variety ; and in the genuine 
breed the whole form is equally good. The 
cock-bird should be strong and short in the legs 
as possible ; his back from tail to neck short, tail 
large and ample. He should weigh not less 
than six pounds; the head is rather large, the 
spurs long and sharp, and the bearing and car- 
riage proud and high. The face should com- 
mence from where the comb joins on the head, 
and must extend downward over and around 
the eye till it meets the white ear-lobes. 

Spanish hens are also of good size and good 
figure, and are celebrated as good layers, pro- 
ducing very large white eggs. The head of the 
hen should be neat, and of moderate size ; eyes 
bright ; comb single, very large and pendulous ; 
face entirely white, the white extending round 
the eye ; neck of moderate length, neatly set on ; 
body broad, wings of middle size ; legs a bluish- 
white ; tail long and well squared ; plumage of 
a glossy black, with brilliant tints of green and 
purple, as in the cock, but less brilliant. Her 
weight should not be less than five pounds. It 
must be especially observed that the slightest 
approach to coarseness, in either cock or hen, 
must be discountenanced, even at the expense 
of size ; for in no class of fowls is quality more 
requisite and more appreciated than in the 
Spanish. 

It can not be too strongly impressed upon 
breeders, that the purely white face is the most 
arbitrary rule in judging fowls of this breed, and 
will cover many trifling deficiencies. Of course 
the plumage should be black, without mixture 
of any other color. 

Although cocks at seven months, and pullets 
at ten, ought to give promise of what they will 
be when they come to maturity, yet we should 



tMim 



mf^, Milk ' :.):'■:■ 

Mi 




BLACK SPANISH. 



FAKM-YAKD FOWLS. 



1-11 



not advise too much haste in forming a judg- 
ment and condemning those that are not appar- 
ently perfect, as many, and more especially pul- 
lets, are from eighteen months to two years in 
becoming really white, and it is undeniable that 
the Spanish hen improves up to three years old. 

It has been noticed that this variety of fowl 
frequently loses nearly all the feathers on the 
body, besides the usual quantity on the neck, 
wings, and tail; and if they moult late and the 
weather is severe, they feel it much. Nothing 
else can reasonably be expected to take place 
with an " everlasting layer." It often happens 
to the Guinea fowl ; and the reason of it is 
plain. If the system of a hird is exhausted by 
the unremitting production of eggs, it can not 
contain within itself the wherewithal to supply 
the growth of its feathers. The stream that will 
fill but one channel can not be made to keep 
two at high-water mark ; and therefore Mr. 
Leonard Baker, an English writer, justly ob- 
serves : "With regard to our anxiety about their 
constant laying, in my opinion nature ought not 
to be forced, as it requires a rest." But some 
people think it can not be right if their hens do 
not lay every day. 

" It is doubtful," says Browne, " whether they 
would readily become acclimated in the north- 
ern part of the United States, for continued frost, 
at any time, much injures their combs ; fre- 
quency causing mortification in the end, which 
has terminated in death. A warm poultry-house, 
high feeding, and care that the birds do not re- 
main too long exposed to severe weather, are the 
best means of preventing this disfigurement." 

Browne also says a " cross between the pheas- 
ant Malay and the Spanish produces a particu- 
larly handsome fowl, and probably very much 
resembling the old Hispanic type." Valuable 
stocks have originated by crossing with other 
varieties. 

Some very perfect specimens of this breed 
were exhibited by Mr. J. P. Childs, of Woon- 
socket, Rhode Island, at the New York State 
Poultry Society at Albany, in February, 1854, 
for which he was awarded a premium. Mr. J. 
Kellen, of Germantown, Pennsylvania, also ex- 
hibited somechoice specimensof the same breed, 
and carried the first prize. 



Mr. John Giles, of Woodstock, Connecticut, 
imported some of the Black Spanish Fowls, which 
were sold at Barnum's Museum, at auction, in 
December, 1854. They brought from $5 50 to 
$10 per pair, which was less than first cost. 

HAMBURG FOWLS. 

Whence this breed originated is not definitely 
known ; some assign its origin to Hamburg or 
vicinity ; others to Holland. Those places at 
the present time furnish the best specimens of 
these fowls, and we may, therefore, properly in- 
fer that if not originating, they have at least long 
been bred there, and brought to a high state of 
perfection. 

It deserves our notice that all tradition, all 
our oldest naturalists, and even the names by 
which our fowls were originally called, all as- 
sign them to an Eastern origin. Even many 
of our modern names, Bantam, Malay, Shang- 
hai, Cochin, and Brahmapoutra, point to a sim- 
ilar origin. Nor is the Hamburg fowl an ex- 
ception, for its earliest describer, Aldrovandus, 
calls it " Turkish fowl." The white body, the 
black markings, the greenish-black tail, and the 
blue-tinged legs, are all characters which shew 
that the old naturalist had before him speci- 
mens of the Silver Hamburg. 

"Why it should be called the Hamburg fowl 
seems inexplicable," say the authors of the 
"Poultry Book," "except upon the supposition 
that the Levant merchants at Hamburg intro- 
duced them from Turkey or elsewhere, and that 
from Hamburg they were exported into En- 
gland. By a similar transit did our Black Ham- 
burg grapes derive their name ; for they are 
certainly natives of Spain, imported by the Ham- 
burg merchants, and first known to us as Ham- 
burg grapes, because purchased by us there." 

Wherever may have been its place of origin, 
or however its present name may have been de- 
rived, it would appear that the Hamburg fowl 
was among the occupants of the poultry-yard 
of our monasteries as early as the beginning of 
the fourteenth century, since Chaucer has de- 
scribed a cock in their possession which was 
evidently of the Golden Hamburg breed. 

Varieties. — There arc two distinct varieties; 
these being again subdivided into two each, 



142 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 




HAMBURG FOWLS. 



distinguished by the ground color of their plu- 
mage. The first division into penciled and 
spangled fowls ; the next into golden and silver 
penciled, and golden and silver spangled. 

The Silver-penciled, known as the Bolton 
Gray, from being extensively and superiorly 
cultivated in and about Bolton, England, are 
considered the most beautiful, although proba- 
bly no better layers than any of the other vari- 
eties. They are called Creole, from the intermix- 
ture of the black and white ; Coral, because the 
numerous points of the polished, bright scarlet 
rose-comb bear no distant resemblance to grains 
of red coral ; Penciled Dutch, because many 
are imported from Holland. 

All Hamburg fowls, though scarcely of me- 
dium size, are plump, compact, beautifully 
formed and marked, which, added to their great 
reputation as perpetual layers, should com- 
mend them as general favorites. Their eggs 
are of a medium size ; they are rather noted for 
long continued than rapid layers, and rarely 
known to sit. They are active, noisy, and impa- 



tient of confinement ; great foragers, though 
small consumers of grain ; and when full liber- 
ty and a good range is afforded, they are un- 
doubtedly a most profitable fowl. Some con- 
sider them delicate in constitution, but this can 
be obviated, in a great measure, by a little extra 
care when young, which will be amply repaid in 
the increased size of the fowl when full grown. 
There has been a great deal said by some about 
this class of birds not being winter layers. There 
must be bad management somewhere when this 
is the case. Hamburg pullets hatched in March 
or April, begin to lay in October, and continue 
until moulting again, and it is surprising what 
a number of eggs are produced. 

They mature early, and are tender, juicy, and 
finely flavored. Few birds excel them for the 
table. The cocks weigh about 4i pounds ; the 
hens 3^ pounds. 

THE SILVER-PENCILED HAMBURG. 

This sub-variety is sometimes called the Pen- 
ciled Dutch, because many are imported from 



FARM-YARD FOWLS. 



143 



Holland; "Dutch eveiy-day Layers," and "Ev- 
erlastings," for the same reason, and their great 
productiveness as layers. 

Both sexes of this sub-variety are character- 
ized by a compactness and neatness peculiarly 
their own. The cock has a full, bright-red rose- 
comb, about three quarters of an inch wide, erect, 
though low on the head, and regularly pointed, 
but terminating in a single point or "pike" be- 
hind, which should extend far back and curve 
gently upward ; ear-lobe white and large ; wat- 
tles large, round, and red ; head small and fine ; 
beak short and white; plumage entirely white, 
with the exception of the wings and tail; the 
wings barred very regularly with black ; tail am- 
ple, very erect, measuring nine inches to the top 
of the highest of the sickle-feathers, which are of 
unusual length, and, with the rest of the tail feath- 
ers, of a highly iridescent black, their edges only 
being very lightly margined with white, silvering, 
as it were, the whole plume. Mottled feather- 
ing is objectionable in the tail; but compara- 
tively few birds attain the more perfect form 
described above. Height may be placed at six- 
teen inches, while an average weight would 
reach 4i pounds. 

The hen displays the peculiar markings which 
characterize this sub-variety much more distinct- 
ly than her lord; and as the penciled feather 
is strictly applicable only to the Hamburg va- 
riety, we give a specimen on the next column. 
The ground color must be either clear creamy 
white or coppery yellow, accordingly as the birds 
belongto the silver or golden classes, and marked 
in either with at least four parallel transverse 
dark bars, as if an artist had worked them with 
a black-lead pencil. The hen's head is very 
small and fine ; comb double-rose, shaped like 
that of the cock, but very much smaller; ear- 
lobes white ; eyes in both sexes large and prom- 
inent; neck-hackle creamy white, without a black 
feather ; the rest of her plumage, even to the tips 
of the tail-feathers, regularly penciled through- 
out; the tail-feathers often have a broad black 
tip; legs and feet blue, and perfectly clean or 
featherless ; nails white. Under the belly is 
often white, but the less of this the better. Span- 
gled feathers mixed with the penciled are very 
objectionable, as is also that confusion of color- 








ing or sprinkling of black among the white, 
which we should suspect first obtained for such 
specimens the designation of the Silver-moss 
fowl. Such we say was probably the origin of the 
term as applied to the Silver Hamburgs, though, 
as it is well known, the fowl now called the Silver 
or Golden Moss is certainly the Silver or Golden- 
spangled Hamburg, which also bears the syn- 
onym of the Silver and Golden Mooney. A bird 
whose penciling has run or become blended with 
the ground color, conveys a good representation 
of the erratic growth of moss or sea-weed ; hence 
the apparent derivation of the term, which it is 
evident becomes difficult of explanation when 
applied to any spangled specimen. "Weight 
of hen about 3i pounds ; height about fifteen 
inches. 

THE GOLDEN-SrANGLED HAMBURG. 

The Golden-spangled Hamburg cock is a per- 
fectly beautiful bird; nothing but a full-sized 
drawing, colored, can give an adequate idea of 
the extremely rich coloring and brilliant lustre 
of his plumage. 

The Spangled- fowls in their essential points 
are tire same as the penciled. The same remark 



Hi 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



may also be applied to their color ; their mark- 
ings, however, are decidedly different, one spot or 
spangle of clear black taking the place of the 
lines on the penciled birds. 

The Golden-spangled Hamburg is also locally 
known as the Golden Pheasant, from the re- 
semblance of its spangled feathers, especially in 
the case of some of the hens, to those of the cock 
pheasant. They are generally of a larger size 
than the Silver-spangled. 

The comb of the cock is a very full-developed 
rose, about two inches broad, and running into 
a pike behind ; wattles large, rounded, and, like 
the comb, of an intense red; ear-lobes white 
and large ; hackle a rich copper, with black mark- 
ings, though in some of the best specimens both 
hackle and saddle feathers are rounded, and have 
the perfect spangle at their extremity; wings 
barred by the spangle of their coverts; breast 
and back of the same bright coppery hue, deeply 
spangled; thighs and lower part of the body 
nearly black ; tail full, erect, and bronzed 
throughout ; legs and feet clean, and of darker 
color than in the penciled birds. They stand 
about nineteen inches high ; and weigh on an 
average 5 J pounds. 

The hen has a small rose-comb, shaped like 
that of the cock ; ear-lobes white ; with her 
body, the lower part alone excepted, spangled as 
in the cock. Her tail is full, and should be tipped 
black, like that of the Sebright Bantam. Height 
about sixteen inches, and weighs about 4£ 
pounds. 

Such in particular are the colors of the Gold- 
en-spangled Hamburgs ; but we must not pass 
them by without some farther encomium on the 
extreme brilliancy of their feather, from its rich 
combination of glossy hues. Their plumage is 
also compact and close, and in good specimens 
of the female bird attains a depth of tone seldom 
surpassed throughout the poultry-yard. The 
only comparison that does it justice may be 
found in the bloom of a thorough-bred bay horse 
in racing condition. 

THE GOLDEN-PENCILED HAMBURG. 

The Golden-penciled Hamburg varies chiefly 
from the Silver-penciled in having a yellowish 
buff or yellowish bay ground color in its plu- 



mage, where the latter has white, and in being 
rather larger. " This is the only variety of Ham- 
burgs," says Mr. Bond, " that has not been ex- 
tensively bred among the Yorkshire fanciers." 
This is the more unaccountable, because we nev- 
er heard that they are inferior in useful proper- 
ties to their Silver relatives, and to most tastes 
are at least their equals in beauty. In one dis- 
trict of Lancashire both of them are kept to an 
extent which procured for them the names of 
Bolton Bays and Bolton Grays, as we have no- 
ticed of the Silver. The Golden-penciled have 
also been known as Dutch every-day Layers. 

The cock has a rose-comb about an inch and 
a half broad with points of uniform height, and 
with a pike reaching far back ; face well crim- 
soned round the eye; ear-lobe white ; neck-hack- 
le ginger or reddish yellow ; tipper wing-cov- 
erts, saddle-feathers, and breast light Vandyke 
brown ; thighs brown ; tail black, with a bronzed 
tint upon the feathers, well sickled and very 
ample for the size of the bird. In good speci- 
mens, when placed in a strong light, a succession 
of parallel transverse markings of a penciled 
character are distinctly visible on the tail-feath- 
ers ; legs blue. About eighteen inches in height, 
and about five pounds in weight. 

The hen has a rose-comb rather larger than in 
the Silver-penciled ; face paler than in the cock ; 
ear-lobe as in the cock ; neck-hackle yellow buff", 
but not so free from stains as the Silver-penciled ; 
breast, wings, and back, brownish buff, accurately 
penciled with black ; legs blue. Height about 
fifteen inches, and weight about four pounds. 

There is a variety called "The Hen-feath- 
ered," and the cocks are marked very similar to 
the hen ; no sickle-feathers in the tail ; the 
spangles being larger and the colors more brill- 
iant. They are a bright yellow-black and pale 
bright red-brown. The markings in this variety 
extend all over the body, wings, and breast. 
Those with the hackle-feathers are never so dis- 
tinctly barred or spotted on the wings ; some 
have the breast wholly black, but are not con- 
sidered so perfect. 

SILVER- SPANGLED HAMBURG. 

These are rather larger and altogether more 
stoutly framed than the Silver-penciled. The 



FARM-YARD FOWLS. 



Hi 



cock has a very large rose-comb, two inches 
across, and well piked behind ; ear-lobes white ; 
beak white ; neck-hackle white, with dark mark- 
ing, and in old birds slightly tinged with yellow ; 
at times, however, it is seen of a clear white. The 
breast should be regularly imbricated or spangled, 
exhibiting markings as clearly defined as any on 
the hen ; black or irregularly mottled breasts 
are too common, but can not enter in competi- 
tion with the former; the back, thighs, and wing- 
coverts, white, distinctly spangled ; the latter, 
excepting the wing quill-feathers, white; legs 
blue ; sickle tail-feathers ample, black, irregular- 
ly splashed with white, but the smaller feathers 
distinctly spangled. 

The hen has a small rose-comb, well piked ; 
eye dark, large, and prominent, that of the cock 
being often rather yellow and less prominent ; 
hackle, breast, back, and wing-coverts, white, 
regularly spangled with black ; tail white, with 
black tips. 

As the spangled feather is best developed in 
the Hamburg varieties, w r e here give a drawing 
of one. We think that the spangle which ap- 




proaches to a circular form is the most correct, 
for when of the crescent or horse-shoe shape it 
K 



appears to be passing toward the laced character. 
When the spangle is of the crescent form the 
plumage may have a gayer and lighter aspect 
(we are speaking of the dark spangled); but 
when the spangle is circular or oval, the plumage 
is richer to the eye. The ground color of the 
feathers must be perfectly clear. 

The Hamburg fowls are very impatient of 
confinement, and succeed best when they can 
have the run of a clean pasture or common. 
How essential this is, requires no other evidence 
than that all the most successful breeders with 
whom we have communicated have spontane- 
ously stated, " They require a large grass walk." 
Six feet fences, where they are intended to be 
restricted to certain limits, will not be more 
than sufficient for their safe custody. 

As egg-producers they are fully entitled to 
rank among the best. The hens, if young, con- 
tinue to lay nearly thoughout the year; but the 
eggs, which are white, are small, weighing about 
H ounces each. The Golden-spangled reach 
to about If ounces. Of the last named, Mr. 
Dixon gives the high average of 240 eggs yearly. 
As they are such abundant layers they seldom 
want to sit. 

It is remarked by Mr. Dixon that " the chick- 
ens are healthy, strong, and require no unusual 
care ;" who adds, " The full grown fowls are re- 
markably healthy." When first hatched the 
chickens are cream colored, or, in the Golden 
varieties, light yellow, with a dark stripe down 
the neck and back. They feather early, and the 
barred character of the penciled birds is quickly 
shown. In the rapidity of their movements 
they rival even the active little Bantams. 

We may here observe that both sexes of all 
the varieties continue to improve in appearance 
after each moult until they arc three years old. 
Birds of one year old have never attained to 
their full beauty; this is especially apparent in 
the more ample development of the tail-feathers 
of the cock as he becomes older. At from five 
to six months old they arc fit for table use, their 
meat white, tender, and well ilavored. 

BLACK HAMBURG FOWL. 

This is also called the Black Pheasant fowl, 
though it has no spangles, but a plumage uni- 



146 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 




THE BANTAM FOWL. 



formly of rich glossy green-black. In form they 
closely resemble other Hamburgs, and may bear 
the same relationship to them that the Black 
Shanghais do to the Buff and other colored. 

Having thus described the various kinds of 
Hamburgs, we may conclude by observing that 
they, with the Polands and Bantams, are the two 
principal varieties that are technically known as 
"feathered fowls," because their merits consist 
in the accuracy of the markings and beauty of 
their feathers, and not in their size. 

THE BANTAM FOWL. 

The Bantam is the smallest specimen, and 
may with propriety be termed the Liliputian 
fowl of the gallinaceous tribe, and stands, com- 
paratively, in size, to that of the Malay or Shang- 
hai, as the stately Durham to the diminutive 
Alderney cow. 

There can be little doubt but that it is to the 
islands of the Eastern Archipelago that the 
origin of this fowl must be referred ; but whether 
all our present varieties owe their descent to 
any one primitive stock, may be the subject of 
speculation, though hardly capable of proof at 
the present day. It is generally supposed that 
this variety received its name from a town and 
district of Java, from whence it was first brought 
by the Dutch. Since their introduction into 
Europe, this breed has ramified into many va- 
rieties, none of which are destitute of elegance, 
and many remarkable for their beauty. All 



are, or ought to be, of small size, but lively and 
vigorous, exhibiting in their movements stateli- 
ness and grace. 

The Bantam, though extremely small in size, 
is elegantly formed, and remarkable for its gro- 
tesque figure, and must be considered more as 
an object of curiosity than utility, and, of course, 
must expect to be received with no peculiar 
favor, except by the fancier, in this country. 
Erom its size and delicacy, however, they are 
very convenient, as they may sometimes stand 
in the place of chickens, when they are not to 
be had. They are very domestic, often making 
their nests in the kitchen and cupboard of the 
dwelling when permitted. 

The cocks are great at crowing, exceedingly 
courageous and pugnacious, and do not hesi- 
itate to attack a turkey or any large bird with 
most amusing pompousness of manner. Their 
passionate temper, their overweening assump- 
tion and arrogance, and their propensity to 
make every rival turn tail, has caused them 
many difficulties. 

The white Bantams, with long feathers on 
their legs, are the most common, but are beau- 
tiful little birds, with short legs, feathered some- 
times to the extremity of the toes. On account 
of their short, feathered legs, a dry location is 
required. They arrive at maturity early, and 
are well worthy of propagation. They are very 
faithful sitters, good mothers, and will lay more 
eggs, though small, than any other variety. They 



FARM-YARD FOWLS. 



14; 



require but little food, and thrive cooped up in a 
small yard where there is dry sand, ashes, and 
sun. 

The feather-legged may often be kept for 
amusement and fancy, especially where there is 
convenience for no other kind, as they are not 
so apt to scratch or do injury in the garden ; and 
as they are, in general, great devourers of some 
of the most destructive of our insects, they are 
thus positively serviceable creatures to the farm- 
ers, as far as their limited range extends, and 
still more so to the gardener and nurseryman. 
We are of opinion that it will soon be found as 
necessary to keep Bantams to kill vermin, as it 
is to keep terrier dogs or cats to keep down rats 
and mice. They will save various crops from 
injuries to which they would be otherwise ex- 
posed. They would, to be sure, scratch a little, 
and so would cats ; and if the very small kind 
are kept, the African for instance, their scratch- 
ing would do little harm. 

The white feather-legged Bantams are now 
as completely out of vogue as they were for- 
merly in esteem. The chief interest attached 
to them lies in their hinting to the naturalist an 
affinity with the Grouse or Ptarmigan. They 
are now nearly extinct in this country. 

There is also a South American variety, either 
from Brazil or Buenos Ayres, which will roost 
in trees, and are said to be very beautiful ; par- 
tridge-colored ; eggs small and colored like the 
pheasant ; both the flesh and eggs are fine fla- 
vored and delicate. 

Mowbray speaks of a Bantam in his time, ex- 
, tremely small, and as smooth legged as a Game 
fowl ; he probably meant the African, which 
will hereafter be noticed. 

Aldrovandus, two thousand years ago, de- 
scribed the cock with the neck and the back of a 
chestnut color, the wings at first black, with whit- 
ish spots, afterward black; the quill-feathers being 
white on the outer, and black on the inner sides ; 
the throat, breast, belly, thighs, and legs, black 
with whitish spots ; tlie feet yellow ; the wattles 
large; the comb double, and not very large ; the 
beak yellow; the tail-feathers partly white and 
partly black. The hen is of a yellowish color, 
and every where, except the neck, marked with 
oblong black spots. 



The Bantams are the fowls of all others for 
the city. We have known them to prosper and 
lay well through the winter in a cellar well 
lighted. 

The following remarkable instance of the at- 
tachment of a Bantam cock to his mate, we find 
related in an English publication. Speaking of 
the cock, the author says : " He is also capable 
of such attachment to his mate, that we remem- 
ber a Bantam cock and hen which were kept 
for some years as favorites without any others, 
in the stable-yard of our father, and when at 
length the hen died, the cock seeing her life- 
less, but naturally unconscious of its being a final 
separation, hovered around her, calling to her, 
and pecking at her gently, as if to awake her. 
Though corn was offered to him, he refused to 
eat, or to roost at night, and moped round the 
yard, vainly searching for his old companion, 
when not finding her, he flew away, and was 
never after heard of." 

" One of the prettiest little Bantam patriarchs 
we have ever seen," says Boswell, "was when 
on a visit to one of the finest landscape painters 
of the day, in the yard of our friend Mr. Brown. 
He marched majestically at the head of his tiny 
tribe, and was of a very fine breed from Ayr- 
shire. They had the full scope of the garden. 
and did little injury — the door-step was their 
feeding-place, and still did no discredit to the 
tidiness of good old Bcrnie, so that two or three 
Bantams may be kept without much molesta- 
tion in any rural situation." 

We find in a late publication the following 
curious account of a pair of Bantams : " Some 
years since," says the writer, "a circumstance 
in reference to poultry, completely ' turning the 
tables' in every thing I have yet seen, came un- 
der my observation; and the simple narration 
will, I am sure, amuse your readers. 

"At the time I speak of, I very greatly ad- 
mired the sports of the gun, and being invited 
to pass a few days where game was exceedingly 
plentiful, became a frequent eye-witness of the 
oddity I describe. The children of the bailiff, 
it seems, in some of their rambles in early Bpring, 
discovered a partridge's nest, containing two 
eggs; and with that proneness formeddling, often 
noticed in children, went home, and finding three 



148 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



eggs of their father's Black-breasted red Bantams 
(which were kept to raise game), without any 
but childish motives, placed them carefully in 
the partridge's nest. I find afterward these chil- 
dren frequently went to see the result, but did 
not again actually interfere with the poor birds' 
privacy. She continued laying until twelve of 
her own eggs were also deposited, and then sit- 
ting, hatched all her own, and two of the three 
Bantams' eggs ; her numerous and strangely in- 
congruous offspring were all reared, and in the 
autumn it was I first saw them, living together 
as comfortably as possible. 

" Great care was taken by the owner that no- 
thing should endanger the life of any of this 
covey; so that spring came on, and found the 
birds paying a tolerable revenue to the game- 
keeper, whose plan it was to gain ' a perquisite 
from every comer,' by running an old pointer, 
and when discovered, flushing the birds. On 
these occasions the pair of Bantams (for they 
were a cock and hen) would always fly equally 
with the partridges, both as to rapidity and dis- 
tance, sometimes traversing six or seven fields 
at a single flight : and if their companions hap- 
pened to drop short and run to cover, the Ban- 
tams would, with depressed head and tail, still 
manage to make a ' dead heat' of it ; in fact, were 
as wild and retiring as possible — quite as much 
so as their companions ! 

" But it has been said truly, ' Instinct is never 
quite suppressed,' for invariably, when disturbed, 
the little fellow, after gaining supposed security, 
indulged in two or three hearty flaps of the 
wings, and as many shrill crowings — a practice 
he would repeat as frequently as he was sub- 
jected to these almost endless rehearsals, a feat 
that generally produced a hearty laugh from 
spectators. At early dawn this bird might oc- 
casionally be seen traversing the meadows, and 
be espied calling haphazard either his fellow 
or the birds to partake of the proffered food, 
which was generally scrambled for from his bill. 
He seemed, too, as fond of some of this covey 
as of his own mate, a matter which greatly in- 
creased the vexation of its owner when his loss 
was discovered. Not hearing the bird crow as 
usual, the oft-adopted plan was tried to discover 
his whereabouts, but proved futile ; and after a 



lengthy and determined search, in which both 
owner and all the household were engaged, a 
number of partridges' feathers lying loosely 
about, in one of the fields, among which a 
' sickle-feather' from the Bantam was also dis- 
covered, told too plainly that the treacherous 
meshes of some midnight poacher had caused 
his sudden disappearance." 

THE BLACK BANTAM. 

The Black African Bantam, which is faith- 
fully delineated on the opposite page, is a most 
beautiful example of a great soul in a little 
body. He is the most pugnacious of his tribe. 
He will drive to a respectful distance great dung- 
hill cocks five times his weight. He is in ap- 
pearance a pleasing little fellow, though an im- 
pudent, consequential little atom ! Oh, the little 
impudent scamp ! That such a contemptible min- 
ikin as that should have the assurance to strut 
and parade his insignificant person in the pres- 
ence of great hens, the members of families of 
weight and substance, before the Misses, and 
still more, the Mistresses Malay, Cochin, and 
Dorking, to presume to show such marked at- 
tention, I declare ! to Well, there is no 

knowing to what length impudence will go, so 
long as Bantams survive extermination. He is 
more jealous, irascible, and domineering, in pro- 
portion to his size, than the thorough-bred Game' 
cock. 

" Its combativeness," says Mr. Dixon, " is man- 
ifest at a very early period. Other chickens 
will fight in sport by the time they are half 
grown, but these set to work in good earnest. 
One summer we bought a small brood, as soon 
as they could be safely removed from their 
mother; there were two cockerels among them. 
They were little things, beautifully shaped, but 
ridiculously diminutive ; fairy chickens some of 
our friends called them. They had not been 
with us long before the liberal supply of barley 
began to excite them ; and the two little imps 
spent the greater part of their time in fighting, 
which only made us laugh, judging serious in- 
jury impossible. But shortly observing one un- 
usually tired (for it had always been a sort of 
draw game between them), and the other walk- 
ing about in an odd uncertain manner, though 



FARM-YARD FOWLS. 



H9 




TIIE BLACK BANTAM. 



firm and fearless, I found that this latter had 
both its eyes closed from wounds received the 
day before. I carried it to my dressing-room, 
to relieve it by sponging, and set it down, while 
I went to fetch some warm water. Still blind, it 
began crowing lustily. In a few minutes its 
eyes were unsealed, and it was returned to the 
yard. But battle after battle was immediately 
fought, and we were obliged to eat one of the 
combatants to prevent the mutilation of both. 
One that I have seen was in the constant habit 
of fighting, or rather sparring, with a little span- 
iel dog that belonged to the same owner. Though 
apparently attacking each other with great fury, 
they never seemed to be in real earnest. The 
arrival of strangers was generally the signal for 
a sham fight, which ended without bloodshed 
as soon as one or both of the combatants was 
out of breath. The spaniel was generally the 
first to give in, when the victor evinced as 
much triumph as if he had vanquished a feath- 
ered foe." 

The cock which our cut represents has a full 
crimson rose-comb, similar to that of the Ham- 
burg fowl, with wattles and face of the same 



hue, and the ear-lobes, like the Spanish, per- 
fectly white ; his plumage is glossy black, reflect- 
ing purple tints with brass-colored spots on his 
back, which, however, is not common ; tail am- 
ple, flowing, and sickled; short sinewy clean 
legs of a dark color. He has a waggish, impu- 
dent eye, self-satisfied air and gait. The hen 
is dusky black, with her comb and wattles small, 
and of a dull leaden hue. 

The Black Bantams vary greatly in size, thongh 
occasionally we have found some of the small- 
est specimens of the whole family. "We lately 
saw quite a number of these Liliputian fowls in 
the yard of M. Vassar, Esq., at " Springside," 
his beautiful residence near Foughkeepsie, some 
of which, even the cocks, we should judge would 
not reach one pound in their feathers. Divest 
them of their sickle-feathers and they would 
pass for fan-tail pigeons. It was amusing to see 
what consequential airs they assumed, the Utile 
whipper-snappers. 

In respect to determined courage, the African 
Bantam will yield to none — no matter the foe, 
even a turkey-cock, to whom they arc opposed, 
or the cause of contention, they fight to the 



150 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



V%V^1 




JAVA BANTAM FOUL. 



last, and fowls treble their weight are often 
forced to yield. Hence, unless restricted by se- 
cure inclosures, they are unwelcome neighbors 
to other poultry ; and consequently by no means 
so generally kept as, from the beauty of their plu- 
mage and their bold carriage — a very carica- 
ture of Bantam arrogance — would otherwise 
have happened. 

It is generally admitted that the origin of this 
Liliputian family must be referred to the islands 
of the Eastern Archipelago ; but whether all 
our present varieties owe their descent to any 
one primitive stock may be the subject of spec- 
ulation, indeed, though hardly at the present 
day capable of proof. Bantam, however, a town 
and district of Java, has afforded their present 
designation ; and the wild Bankiva fowl is the 
bird to which they are usually considered to 
owe their origin. 

THE JAVA BANTAM. 

Richardson says that "the original of the 
Bantam is the Bankiva fowl, a native of Java, 
several specimens of which are kept by her Ma- 
jesty at the Home Parm. These are beautiful 
little creatures, perfectly white in color, and ex- 
ceedingly small size, and they exhibit some pe- 
culiar traits of habit and disposition that we 
can not overlook. Among other strange pro- 
pensities, the cocks are so fond of sucking the 



eggs laid by the hen, that they will often drive 
her from the nest in order to obtain them — nay, 
they have even been known to attack her, tear 
open the ovarium, and devour its shell -less con- 
tents. To subdue this propensity Her Majesty's 
keeper gave the cocks first a hard-boiled egg, 
and then a marble one to fight with, taking care 
at the same time to keep them from any access to 
a real egg. No sooner was this done, than an at- 
tack on the false egg was commenced, which 
lasted for a week, till at last, wearied with their 
fruitless labor, they gradually gave up all notice 
of them, and with that abandonment, as was 
anticipated, they ceased from their accustomed 
destruction of the eggs, and have never been 
known to attack them since. 

" Another strange propensity was exhibited in 
a passion for sucking each other's blood ; but 
this propensity is not peculiar to that breed of 
fowls ; it is more or less common with all fowls. 
This passion generally exhibits itself when the 
birds are moulting, when they had been known 
to peck each other naked, by pulling out the 
new feathers as they appeared, and squeezing 
with their beaks the blood from the bulbs at the 
base. The intelligence of the keeper found 
means to overcome this propensity likewise. 
That person observing that the birds were sub- 
ject to great heat of the skin, and that its sur- 
face occasionally became hard and tightened, 



FARM-YAED FOWLS. 



151 



conceived that, in such cases, the hard roots of 
the feathers being drawn into a position more 
nearly at right angles with the body than at or- 
dinary times, the skin and superficial muscles 
were thus subjected to an usual degree of pain- 
ful irritation ; and it immediately occurred to 
him that the disagreeable habit in question was 
simply a provision of nature for the relief of the 
suffering birds. Impressed with this idea, he 
tried the effect of artificial relief, by washing 
with warm water, and the subsequent use of 
pomatum to the skin. His experiment was suc- 
cessful, and the birds' plumage has been ever 
since untouched. 

"As might be supposed, when such a propen- 
sity to devour the eggs exists in the male bird 
the female is a secret layer. In this respect these 
fowls show their identity with the original bird 
of Java, the Bankiva cock, whose wildness of 
disposition I have already mentioned. These 
fowls are both good layers and good sitters." 

In corroboration of the foregoing propensity 
a writer in the Poultry Book remarks: "The 
opportunity was once afforded me of narrowly 
watching the habits of a pair of Bankiva fowls, 
originally from Java, but which their owner had 
obtained from a dealer in Portugal. The male 
in appearance closely assimilated to the Black- 
breasted red Bantam, though in one peculiarity 
differing greatly from that bird, his tail always, 
whether quiescent or otherwise, carried almost 
in a straight line with the back. The same was 
the case with the female ; and, beyond their 
somewhat lighter form, this appeared to be the 
only distinguishable difference between her and 
the hen of the domestic variety. These birds 
were unfortunately extremely wild, and confine- 
ment seemed to effect no change whatever on 
their natural habits. The hen, indeed, laid a 
few eggs, which were at once devoured by the 
parents. In fact so unsociable and pugnacious 
were they, that although attempts were made 
again and again to cross them with the Black- 
breasted red Bantams, death to the new-comers 
invariably ensued. Even the hen killed a little 
fellow of that variety when placed after night- 
fall side by side on the roost with herself alone. 
They would not fight during the presence of 
any one, but the instant they saw the coast 



clear, they set-to most determinately, and, if not 
overmatched in size, with invariable success. 
Their end, however, was a melancholy one, for 
a Game hen, placed with them, employed her 
great strength in the destruction of both." 

THE NANKIN BANTAM. 

The Nankin Bantams appear to have been 
among the earliest importations ; and about the 
most useful of their tribe, and not the least orna- 
mental. Their clear plumage and active figure 
will procure for them many admirers. Their 
prevailing color is a pale orange or buff, some- 
thing resembling the Nankeen (a corruption 
of Nankin), a certain cotton material much in 
vogue in this country some years ago for sum- 
mer wear. The cocks are decked in red, orange, 
and scarlet, mostly with the false speculum, or 
iridescent wing-coverts, altogether of a flashy 
appearance ; and, indeed, when good specimens 
of their kind, they are really beautiful little birds. 

The hen has usually some dark markings on 
the hackle, and the tail is often tipped with 
black ; both sexes have short, dark legs, and a 
double comb. Many of these birds are said to 
exhibit a strong resemblance to the correspond- 
ing colors of the Buff Shanghais. Their eggs 
are large in proportion to the size of the fowl, 
very rounded and full at both ends, and of ex- 
cellent flavor. The hens are steady sitters and 
excellent mothers. 

There is a browner variety of this bird which 
is sometimes called the Partridge Bantam ; such 
are almost miniatures of the Golden Hamburg 
fowls both penciled and spangled. There is the 
same double comb pointed behind, the same 
blue legs and characteristics of form and plu- 
mage. 

THE SEBRIGHT BANTAM. 

There are certainly very few, if there are any 
varieties of poultry which, fqr beauty and gen- 
eral appearance or conformation, are equal to the 
Sebright Bantam. The Cochin for weight and 
quietness — the Sebright for haughty carriage 
and diminutive beauty. They are comparatively 
non-injurious in the ornamental ground around 
a villa; their plumage and markings justly en- 
title them to the appellation given by the late 



152 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 




THE SEI3KIGIIT BANTALI FOWL. 



Sir John Sebright, from whom they derive their 
name, and to whom we are indebted for this 
variety, as " being the very prettiest of all do- 
mestic fowls," and when hereditary breeding has 
not been too closely persisted in, they are not 
without utility likewise. 

The English know more, I will venture to 
say, of the science of breeding, than all the other 
nations on the globe, and this knowledge is ex- 
ercised on their domestic animals, from the no- 
ble race down to a tom-cat, Guinea-pig, or lop- 
eared rabbit ; and from the proud and graceful 
swan to the no less proud and scarcely less 
graceful bantam. 

Much mystery has been attached to the proc- 
ess by which these birds were brought to their 
present state of perfection. Whether originally 
bred from selected specimens of the spangled 
birds — in most of which, as in the Spangled Po- 
lands, certain feathers, those on the wing-cov- 
erts more especially, are usually found of a laced 
character — or whether we should be content to 
place them as one among the numerous distinct 
branches into which this family have been di- 
vided, remains a matter of discussion, and one 
too, which at this date is not likely to be satis- 
factorily determined. 

" The last object," says a writer in the Poultry 
Chronicle, " Sir John arrived at, was to improve 



the Bantam to a clear erect carriage. To effect 
this, he, about forty-five years ago, obtained a 
buff colored Bantam hen at Norwich ; she was 
very small indeed, with clear slate-colored legs ; 
on the same journey he purchased a cockerel, 
rather inclining to red in color, destitute of 
sickle-feathers, with a hen-like cackle, and also 
(at Walford) a small hen resembling a Golden 
Hamburg. After this, by drafting for five or 
six years, he gained the very penciled feather 
he so anxiously sought after, by in-and-in breed- 
ing, for about twenty years. He afterward had 
a white cockerel from the Zoological Gardens 
by which he made his silvers." 

One of the most remarkable characteristics 
of the Sebright cock is the total absence of both 
hackle and saddle feathers ; he is also perfectly 
"hen tailed," that is, devoid of sickle-feathers; 
the principal feathers being straight and form- 
ing a square tail, like that of the hen, perfectly 
upright and not inclining to either side, for this 
would constitute a very serious objection, though 
by no means an uncommon occurrence, even in 
the produce of the best-selected birds. The 
tail-coverts are somewhat more developed than 
in other fowls, and great stress is justly laid 
on these being perfectly laced, since, in the few 
places are the colors more apt to run. The 
comb must be double, terminating in a well- 



FARM-YARD FOWLS. 



153 



formed point, less sharp than the Hamburgs; 
while the legs and feet are required blue, and 
wholly free from the least appearance of a feath- 
er. The feathers on the head are apt to get 
dark from their wider margin of the lacing; 
this, however, should be avoided, since a main 
point of the Sebright is the preservation of the 
same proportion of ground color and lacing 
throughout the whole of its plumage. The ear- 
lobe is small, and in our opinion should be 
white ; but this is rarely, if ever seen, and many 
would give a preference to a blue tinge. A 
writer in the "Poultry Book" thus alludes to 
this point: "In the Sebright ' laced' Bantams 
I have yet to see a specimen in which the ear- 
lobe is perfectly white; for although so many 
have been bred by myself in the last twenty 
years, all that I have ever yet had were blushed, 
and many perfectly red in the ear-lobe. I freely 
admit I should prefer the white, but feel confi- 
dent that it is not to be generally, if ever, ob- 
tained. I have also invariably noticed that the 
usual whiteness of the ear-lobe is accompanied 
by a sad falling off in the lacing, therefore, if 
attainable only at so great a cost, it must not 
be insisted on. Whether the ear-lobe is white, or 
possesses the blue tinge, either form would place 
the bird above those of its competitors, who, equal 
in other points, manifested the decided red stain, 
which it must be remembered is widely removed 
from the blushed appearance before alluded to." 
There are of the Sebrights two distinct vari- 
eties, well known, one as the " Golden-laced," 
the other as the " Silver-laced" Bantam, the 
markings in each precisely similar, the great dif- 
ference being in the ground color; that of the 
Golden is a purely clear bright bay ; the Silver 
colored on the other hand, if decidedly a per- 
fect bird, is a clear bright frosted silver, which, 
from the very great contrast with the "black 
lacings," gives it a decidedly superior appear- 
ance to its less conspicuous neighbor. Every 
feather from the head to the tail of a well-bred 
Sebright is "laced" or bordered all round the 
edge with a line of pure black, about one-six- 
teenth of an inch in width, and it is quite es- 
sential that regularity should exist all through- 
out the whole lacings, even on the coverts of 
the wings ; for if the line widens toward the ex- 



tremity of the feather, it becomes a fatal objec- 
tion ; this is one of the most common failings 
in these birds, and is the best obviated by a 
little careful management in the selection of 
" brood stock." The tail should be only tipped 
with black, and the ground color ought not to be 
clouded, but perfectly clear and distinct through- 
out its whole extent. 

If possible, always breed this truly fashionable 
and beautiful variety of fowls from old birds, 
not chickens ; as, when so managed ; your suc- 
cess will be far more certain. 

The chickens are hardy to excess, if kept in a 
perfectly dry place the first week or two ; and it 
is quite necessary to enforce this, as the least 
damp at this early age is certainly fatal alike 
to your hopes and your chickens. 

The gait of the Sebright Bantam is the very 
extreme of self-esteem, vanity, and self-assur- 
ance, and when silently walking on a lawn in 
search of insects in the grass, or hurrying with 
the most agile and noisy impatience from the 
too near advance of your favorite dog to some 
friendly covert of evergreens, it is impossible to 
conceive a more lovely ornament to} r our grounds, 
or one that claims more general admiration and 
astonishment from those who thus see them for 
the first time. The feet are raised in walking 
much more than in any other of the Bantams, 
and planted again with the greatest deliberation 
and precision. When alarmed, their deportment 
is most striking; the wings droop to the ground, 
not listlessly, but as if determined to make the 
most of their tiny proportions ; while the head 
is thrown back, and the tail raised, so that they 
all but meet. 

Characteristics. — The Bantams are excellent 
layers, sitters, and mothers, and perform all 
these duties with very little trouble. As moth- 
ers, indeed, they appear to the greatest advant- 
age ; for their activity, courage, and gentleness 
with their chickens place them above all other 
fowls. Four or even five eggs per week each, 
dimng a laying season, extending over seven or 
eight months, is no unusual production. 

Our Bantam labors are now ended, and if 
our assurance of their hardy disposition and 
habits of domesticity, in conjunction with the 
beauty of their form and plumage, should induce 



154 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 




THE CREEPER OR DWARF FOWL. 



aiiy of those who have read our pages to give 
them a fair trial, we shall feel that our labors 
have not been in vain, and assured of eventual 
assent to all we have said in their favor. 

THE CREEPER OR DWARF FOWL. 

This variety is described by some authors as 
not larger than a pigeon, and differs from the 
Bantam chiefly in size and in the shortness of 
its legs. It is found occasionally in our farm- 
yards, and is considered less troublesome in 
gardens. The shortness of its legs prevents 
too free use of them on new-made beds. In 
size it is generally below the common fowl of 
the country. 

The " Acoho," a native of Madagascar, is de- 
scribed as very small, with a circle of feathers 
about the legs, a thick tail, which it carries 
straight, and the ends of the wings black. Other 
varieties, said to come from Cambodia and now 
found in the Philippine Islands, have the legs 
so short as to drag the wings on the ground. 



In addition to these, Buffon mentions a sort 
of fowl in Brittany which are always obliged to 
leap, the legs being so short. They are the size 
of the barn-yard fowl, and kept as being very 
profitable. The hens, it is said, will hatch thirty 
eggs at a time. Some think these dwarf fowls 
are the "Adrian" breed, mentioned by Pliny. 
Aristotle speaks in the highest terms of the fe- 
cundity of these dwarf fowls : "They lay," says 
he, "every day, and sometimes two eggs a 
day." 

Aldrovandus, two thousand years ago, de- 
scribed the dwarf hen as all black, except the 
quill-feathers on the wings, which are white at 
the ends, with some chestnut-like spots on the 
neck, and a yellow spot around the eye. The 
comb small and dark colored ; the feet yellow- 
ish ; the claws equal and very white. He said 
nothing about the cock. 

A very small dwarf fowl has been greatly 
multiplied in England, because it is very fruit- 
ful, and excellent for sitting ; it is preferred in 



FARM-YARD FOWLS. 



loo 



pheasants' walks to the common hens, which 
are too heavy. When the breed is pure, the 
plumage of this fowl is quite white, and it is 
not larger than a pigeon. 

Another variety, the " Chinese Dwarf Fowl," 
is smaller than the English dwarf; its plumage 
is variegated on the different individuals like 
that of the common breed. The painting of 
them is frequently to be found on Chinese pa- 
pers. 

The French also claim a breed of Dwarf 
fowls, not so small, however, as the English 
dwarf fowl. Its plumage varies like that of the 
common breed ; its eggs are not larger than that 
of the pigeon. 

In Scotland they have a breed of dwarf fowls 
which are called " Dumpies." " The London 
Times" say the authors of "The Poultry Book," 
"in an amusing article on the Metropolitan 
Poultry Show of 1852, questioned the posses- 
sion by these birds of any more valuable quali- 
ties than the facility with which they might be 
stowed away in a sauce-pan. But Mr. Fairlie, 
of Cheverly Park, the only person, we believe, 
into whose hands they have yet passed, has re- 
corded so favorable an opinion of their merits as 
layers and mothers, no less than for the table, 
that we shall be much surprised if, either in 
their present state, or crossed with other fowls, 
they fail to prove a useful addition to our poul- 
try-yards. 

" Mr. Fairlie obtained his birds from Scot- 
land; but all his inquiries have hitherto been 
unable to trace their origin in, or importation 
into, that country. Their general character, 
however, so closely assimilates to that of the 
Dorkings, as shown in our illustration, that the 
probability of their being descendants of birds 
stinted in their growth by the less genial climate 
of the northern district of our island, may read- 
ily be admitted ; and this the more easily, when 
we remember how many would describe the 
early ancestors of the Dorking race as ' stumpy, 
thick-set, white fowls.' 

"For a detail of their several characteristics 
and points, let us refer to Mr. Fairlie's own 
words: 'The Scotch Bakies, or Dumpies,' he 
tells us, ' are a breed c f fowls closely resembling 
the Dorkings in form, symmetry, and quality of 



flesh ; the average weight of the full-grown male 
bird is from six to seven pounds, and of the hen 
from five to six pounds ; their legs are singu- 
larly short, not exceeding two inches in length 
from the hock joint ; the comb is generally sin- 
gle, erect, and well serrated; the body round 
and plump, and the tail ample. As layers they 
have great merit; for after filling one nest, if 
the eggs are removed, they at once take to an- 
other, filling that also before they sit, during 
which process they fully justify the oft-repeated 
remark made at the Metropolitan Exhibition, 
What excellent sitters they must make! They 
cover many more eggs than might be expected 
from their size, for while on the nest, they ap- 
pear as if they had been pressed flat upon it. 
They are gentle and quiet when hatching, and 
subsequently prove gentle and attentive moth- 
ers, their short legs enabling the chickens to 
brood well under them even when standing up. 
I have found them perfectly hardy ; and their 
eggs are larger, and the shell a clearer white, 
than, the usual average of an English market 



THE PADUAN FOWL. 

In the "Poultry Book," under the head of 
"Fowls Recently Imported," we find the follow- 
ing: "About twenty years since, a sitting of eggs 
was obtained from a ship's captain in London, 
who had imported the fowls by whom they were 
produced, tnough from what country can not 
now be ascertained. From these chickens a 
race of fowls has been kept up unstained by the 
admixture of any other breed ; and birds from 
this stock have for some years been in the pos- 
session of the Rev. T. A. Holland, of Sussex. 
Several indications of the probability of their 
proving a distinct breed were noticed by that 
gentleman, and their features and general char- 
acter were therefore carefully noted by him, as 
also Mr. H. Hinxman, to whom we are indebted 
for the following description : 

"My friend Mr. Holland's Paduans have no- 
thing whatever to do with those of Aldrovan- 
dus. The breed is one of those I mentioned 
to you as being under my experimental consid- 
eration as a practical and useful variety for gen- 
eral purposes. I like them much, and believe 



156 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



them to be a pure race, although I am fully 
aware that one can not be too cautious in stamp- 
ing stray pens of fowls as new and distinct varie- 
ties. There is always, indeed, abundance of 
trash sent to exhibitions under that class, and 
if they can but get noticed, they are forthwith 
sent out at prices that fairly make one stand 
aghast when one sees the article thus paid for. 
"But the question now before us is whether 
these Paduans are either derived from or allied 
to any other known breed ? Now the red Dork- 
ing and the Duck-wing Game suggest them- 
selves as the most likely connections. But the 
Paduans I have hitherto bred, have shown no 
indications of either of those breeds beyond a 
tinge of blue or green in the legs, and a rather 
fan-shaped Game tail, both of which, it is true, 
might raise a question of (as the Irish would 
say) the last taste of the Duck-wing. But this has 
only occurred in a pullet or two, the cockerels 
being quite steady and pure. The adult birds 
are of the size of medium Dorkings, and rath- 
er partake of their shape, having short .white 
legs and broad backs. The cock's hackle and 
saddle feathers are brilliant orange ; back and 
wings, darker red ; breast, chestnut ; with a green 



speculum on the wing; tail, a rich glancing 
greenish black. 

" The hen has a chestnut or fawn-colored 
breast, golden hackle edged with brown, back 
and wings different shades of brown, each feath- 
er being beautifully marked, and closely resem- 
bling those of the partridge. They are excel- 
lent bcth as layers and incubators, no less than 
for the table, where they appear plump, well- 
shaped birds, a source of comfort, indeed, to 
any cook who, in these days of gaunt Asiat- 
ics, has been hitherto obliged to make those 
birds which ivould not do for the show, respect- 
able for master's table. The eggs are fair 
sized, and about the color of the lightest Shang- 
hais. The cockerel's comb is rather long in 
growing up, and, at maturity, of a medium size, 
and always single. 

"Under such circumstances we should advise 
the substitution of some other name from that 
which they now bear. It neither indicates their 
native country, nor serves to explain any por- 
tion of their subsequent history ; while confusion 
is sure to arise from its application to the Padu- 
an fowls of Aldrovandus, the progenitors, accord- 
ing to Mr. Dixon, of our present Polish race." 





CKESTE1) FOWLS. 



CEESTED FOWLS. 



159 



CHAPTER VII. 

CRESTED FOWLS. 



Bcffon, in speaking of the crested cock says : 
"The breed of crested fowls is that which the 
curious most cultivated, and what generally hap- 
pens when things are closely examined, they 
have observed a great number of differences, 
particularly in their colors of plumage, which 
serve to distinguish a multitude of races, that 
are the more esteemed in proportion to the 
beauty of their plumage and rareness of their 
tints, such as the gold and silver ones." 

A writer in the Cottage Gardener remarks : 
" The various breeds of crested fowls are gen- 
erally designated under the head of Polands. 
I consider this name incorrect, as applied to all 
the varieties, as they are usually classed together, 
and that it ought not to be continued, as it gives 
the impression that they are only varieties of 
the same kind, instead of their being, as they 
really are, of distinct origin. 

"I think it would be equally justifiable to 
class all single-comb birds together, and also 
those which- have rose-combs in another class, 
as it is supposed that all top-knotted fowls are 
of one kind. I am not aware of any wild 
race that has the full rose-comb, and I believe it 
is usually supposed by naturalists that that form 
is attributable to the effects of domestication. 
The same or similar arguments have been used 
by some to account for the extra or fifth toe to 
be met with in other breeds ; with equal justice, 
I contend, the crests of our top-knotted fowls 
might be assigned to a like origin ; and suppos- 
ing this to be correct, does it follow, that in the 
long lapse of years during which fowls have been 
domesticated, and the various circumstances un- 
der which these birds have been cultivated — is 
it not likely that if such change did take place 
once, it might again in a different place, and 



even under different circumstances ? The only 
wild breed of fowls I have ever heard of with 
feathery crests, is that which was said to have 
been found by the Spaniards in their western 
possessions ; this fowl was called the St. Jago 
fowl, and has been confused by some naturalists 
with the Gallus Giganteus of Sumatra or Malay, 
from which, however, it is quite distinct. The 
old white fowls with black top-knots are con- 
sidered as the true descendants of the wild St. 
Jago, even as the Malay is that of the Gallus Gi- 
ganteus ; if this is correct, the truth of which I 
do not doubt, and I think it will also be admit- 
ted, that top-knotted fowls were known in En- 
gland before America was discovered, and as one 
variety is evidently of Persian origin, then they 
can not possibly be of one kind. 

" The intermingling of the various kinds is 
also a fertile source from whence, in the length 
of their captivity, many varieties, by isolation 
and the whims and caprices of men, have in 
many cases produced established sorts as per- 
manent varieties. 

" Thus I conclude, from careful examination 
of poultry literature, so far as I have been ena- 
bled to obtain it, that the Persian Polands, the 
St. Jago, and the crested Ilamburgs, are three 
distinct kinds, and ought therefore not to be 
called by one name." 

BLACK POLAND FOWL. 

These, like the brave people from which they 
derive their name, are every way commendable, 
and are recommended to the "chicken fancy." 

The Poland fowls, as they arc generally call- 
ed, were, according to English authors, said to 
be imported from Holland. Mr. Dixon regards 
the Paduan Fowl figured by Aldrovandus, as a 



loO 



THE AMEEICAN POULTEEEE'S COMPANION. 




BLACK POLAND FOWL. 



progenitor of the Polish race ; but the red spot 
encircling the eyes, and the yellow bill and feet 
assigned to the former bird, would create doubt 
as to any such relationship, and the portraits 
referred to are very unintelligible. Mr. Moffat, 
in the " Poultry-keeper's Guide," speaks of the 
Paduan as domesticated in the town of that 
name in Italy, and then treats of the Polands 
separately, under the title of the " Crested 
Cock." 

The authors of "The Poultry Book," in ref- 
erence to the origin of the Poland fowl, say : 
" Among other localities, St. Jago is spoken of 
as their native country ; but this expression, we 
may remark, is very indefinite, since the Geo- 
graphical Gazetteer under this name enumer- 
ates above twenty different places in various 
quarters of the globe. Thus, among others, we 
have St. Jago, one of the Cape de Verd Islands ; 
a town in St. Domingo ; a city of the Buenos 
Ayrean territory ; also of Mexico, Gautemala, 
Honduras, and of Chili, in South America. Our 
investigations, therefore, are thus but little aid- 
ed. Which of these is to be considered as the 
Poland's birth-place we are not specially in- 



formed, nor does it appear probable that any in- 
quiries, however carefully conducted, are now 
likely to settle the question. If we are content 
to trace the countries through which we have 
received these fowls, it appears highly probable 
that they were introduced into the Netherlands 
by the Spaniards during their occupation of the 
Low Countries ; and from Germany, Holland, 
Belgium, and latterly Marseilles, we have been 
in the habit of receiving our best specimens. To 
all who are acquainted with the pictures of the 
Dutch school, the bearded Poland is known as 
a frequent feature. Whence the Spaniards ob- 
tained them is a point we can not pretend to 
decide, though the possessions and commerce 
of that kingdom would direct our inquiries to 
the western rather than to the eastern hemis- 
phere. 

"With Poland, we certainly have nothing 
to connect these birds ; the supposed overland 
journey, which has been suggested as account- 
ing for their presence in that country, and their 
consequent name, is hardly probable. Nor do we 
think more favorably of the derivation from the 
disease known as ' Plica Polonica,' in which the 



CRESTED EOWLS. 



161 



hair of the human being is plastered flat on the 
head with an extended and hardened section, 
the very opposite to a flowing top-knot." 

Mr. Dixon thinks that the Poland fowl is a hy- 
brid between the crested and the Spanish fowls. 
It is, however, quite unknown in Poland, and is 
said to have taken its name from some resem- 
blance having been fancied between its tufted 
crest and the square spreading crown of the 
feathered caps worn by the Polish soldiers. 

There is no evidence that any breed of fowls 
■with top-knots was known to the ancients ; but 
we first meet with them in the Middle Ages. 
Aldrovandus, as quoted by Willoughby in his 
"Ornithology," gives us many kinds, or rather 
rarities, of hens, among which was one white and 
*' coppered," but this is believed to be the lark- 
crested barn-yard fowl of the present day. Al- 
drovandus also gives two large spirited figures, 
each occupying the whole of his folio page, which 
lie calls the Paduan fowls, but in which we rec- 
ognize what would now be called Polands. His 
description reads as follows : " There exist 
cocks for the most part larger than our own, 
which the common people call Paduan, even as 
such hens are larger than our own hens. We 
exhibit a likeness of the male and the female. 
The male was most beautiful to behold, highly 
decorated with five different colors ; viz., black, 
white, red, green, and ochre. Eor the whole 
body was black. The neck was covered with 
very white feathers. But the wings and the 
back consisted partly of black, and partly of 
green. The tail likewise was of the same color, 
but the roots of the feathers were whitish. Some 
of the quill feathers were whitish above. Its head 
was adorned with a very handsome crest; but 
the roots of the crest were white. A red spot 
encircled the eyes. The comb was very small, 
the bill and feet yellowish. But in the whole hen 
there was not the least white, except that white 
skin, which is usual about the openings of the 
ears, but she was altogether black, shining with 
green. The feet were light yellow ; the comb 
very small, and scarcely of a red color." 

Characteristics.- — In speaking of the recog- 
nized points of excellence in the Polands of the 
present &&y, we must separate the black white- 
crested from the other varieties, since in form 
L 



and general appearance a wide difference be- 
tween them is at once apparent ; some features, 
however, are common to both ; these, conse- 
quently, claim our first attention. 

Thus the disposition and characteristics may 
be spoken of generally ; and certainly in this 
view they possess, in no inconsiderable degree, 
all those traits which bespeak our admiration 
no less than our attention. The cock, though 
not belligerent, is by no means deficient in cour- 
age, and, once engaged, will contend till he 
finds himself fairly vanquished. His carriage 
is lofty and upright, and when excited he dis- 
plays a convulsive movement of the throat re- 
sembling that of the Fan-tail Pigeon. The color 
is of a uniform black, both cock and hen, gloss- 
ed with metallic green. The head is ornament- 
ed with a handsome crest or tuft of white feath- 
ers, springing from a fleshy protuberance, con- 
sisting of four or five spikes ; the wattles long, 
and of a deep red ; the bill in both sexes is dis- 
tinguished by a peculiar elevation, as also by 
great width of the nostrils, observable in the 
youngest chickens. At its base there usually 
appears the small spike comb, which at its 
broadest part should never exceed half an inch, 
and in height it should be much less. From 
its form and position it has been well compared 
to the crescent that decorates the Turkish turban. 
But the cock and the hen are of the same col- 
or, only the cock has frequently some white 
feathers in his tail, which some think a true sign 
of pure breeding. His carriage is good ; the 
arched neck nearly meeting the tail, which is 
very full and erect, especially when he becomes 
excited. The breast is wide and prominent, 
while the short legs and generally compact form 
are no less pleasing to the eye than valuable in 
an economical point of view, as indicative, tech- 
nically speaking, of the comparativeness of 
offal. A full-sized Black Poland cock should 
weigh from five to five and a half pounds. 

When we turn to the hen we require the 
same color throughout, but the top-knot, of 
course, must be perfectly white, globular, and 
free from broken colors. Her wattles arc round- 
ed and well developed; the ear-lobe white. 
In form, she is closer built than the cock, full 
breasted, and should weigh about four pounds. 



162 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



Mowbray says "the Polanders are not only 
kept as ornamental, but they are of the most 
useful varieties, particularly on account of the 
abundance of the eggs they lay, being least in- 
clined to sit of any other breed, whence they 
are sometimes called everlasting layers, and it is 
usual to set their eggs under other hens. They 
fatten as quickly as any other breed, and in 
quality similar to the Dorking; their flesh per- 
haps a little more juicy and of a richer flavor. 
They are a quiet, domestic fowl, neither quar- 
relsome nor mischievous, and their eggs of a 
good size, fine flavored, and thin shells." 

They do not lay quite so early in the season 
as some varieties, especially after a hard win- 
ter ; but they are exceedingly good layers, and 
continue a long time without wanting to sit. 
They will sit, however, at length, and prove of 
very diverse dispositions ; some being excellent 
sitters and nurses, others heedless and spiteful. 
The chickens, when first hatched, are a dull 
black, with white breasts, with white down on 
the top of the head, rising sufficiently high to 
indicate the breed to Avhich they belong. They 
do not always grow and get out of harm's way 
so quickly as some others, but are not particu- 
larly tender. 

The chickens of the entirely black and the 
entirely white varieties resemble their respect- 
ive parents in color, allowing for the difference 
between down and feather. They are no soon- 
er hatched than peculiarities may be noticed by 
which they may at once be distinguished from 
those of any other fowls ; viz., the elevated roof 
of the nostril, the round and prominent appear- 
ance of the head, and also the fatty substance, 
forming a nidus or cushion, from which the fu- 
ture top-knot grows. In the best specimens it 
is large, and seems to include the whole upper 
part of the head ; in inferior breeds with small 
top-knots it is but indistinctly developed. Dr. 
Horner says this test is so accurate, that when- 
ever it is considered desirable to rear only the 
finest birds, all those which are found wanting 
in this respect may be safely discarded. 

Feathering and growth progress at the usual 
rate ; and when two or three months old, they 
are certainly most attractive little creatures ; 
their top-knots at this age add to their singu- 



larity by giving them a most unique appear- 
ance. Prom the entire absence of the comb at 
this age, there is the greatest difficulty in distin- 
guishing the sexes (this will apply to all the 
crested varieties) ; till their first moult, indeed, 
it is impossible to decide the point with cer- 
tainty. 

The most critical period extends over about 
three weeks or a month; for, feathering early, 
their constitution is severely tested by the heavy 
drain then made upon it. This point, however, 
once passed, they are quite as hardy as the 
chickens of other families ; nor have we found 
them " fixed" or stationary, at any subsequent 
period of their growth. 

However ornamental in appearance, merito- 
rious as layers, and excellent as table fowls, the 
Polish, or any of the top-knot varieties, are ill- 
calculated for the vicissitudes of the ordinary 
farm-yard. Their not being to be depended 
upon as sitters, their non-laying character dur- 
ing winter, and the care that is required for the 
chickens in their early days, are objections that 
are justly urged against them as a farmer's fowl. 
But whenever the other unquestionable good 
qualities of this bird, and the beauties of its 
form and feathering are held to compensate 
for these drawbacks, we strongly advise a selec- 
tion from some one or other of the numerous 
varieties. 

As regards food, their consumption may be 
placed at the same cost as the common fowl — 
Game fowls being considered the cheapest in 
point of maintenance, from their vigorous con- 
stitution, and the large quantity of natural food 
that their rambling habits enable them to pro- 
cure. 

GOLDEN-CRESTED FOWL. 

This, as an ornamental variety, we esteem 
above all others for their splendid plumage of 
bright and odd contrasted colors, similar to the 
Golden-spangled fowl of the English writers. 
The portraits were taken from specimens in our 
own yard. In size, they are less than the Black 
Polands, and larger than the common sized Ban- 
tams, and of beautiful symmetry ; bodies rather 
long and round ; tail standing high, and long 
and full in proportion to the size of the body ; 



CRESTED FOWLS. 



1G8 




GOLDEH-CHESTED FOWL. 



legs bluish. Their color is a dark yellow or 
rather buff colored ground, with small black 
spots on the ends of the feathers ; crests stand- 
ing upright, large, open, and of mixed colors. 
Some of the cocks are a bright red with black 
breasts ; wings spangled with reddish gold color. 
The carriage of the cock bold and lofty. 

They are very scarce, and we have no relia- 
ble information as to their origin. We found 
them in the hands of a gate-keeper on the Great 
Western Turnpike, near Albany, and he could 
give no account of their origin. He had bred 
them for a number of years, and by selecting 
those of the most odd and fanciful colors for 
propagation, produced a breed unrivaled in 
beauty, and as strongly marked in character as 
the Dorking or Black Poland. 

They are good layers ; their eggs are small, 
but rich in quality; flesh white, juicy, high-fla- 
vored, and delicate. When young, like all the 
family of crested fowls, they do not make good 
sitters — of course do not hatch well. They are 
a splendid bird, and make a beautiful appear- 
ance in the poultry-yard, and are greatly ad- 
mired. They are rather tender in constitution, 
and it is difficult to raise their chickens, owing, 



probably, to the fact of their having been bred 
"in-and-in" too long. 

Boswell says, in his work on poultry, there is 
an ornamental sub-variety known as the Golden 
Poland, with yellow and black plumage. 

Some travelers assert that the Mexican poul- 
try are crested ; but these, as well as all the rest 
on the continent of America, have been intro- 
duced from another continent. They are equal- 
ly abundant at the Cape of Good Hope, where 
their legs are feathered. In Egypt they are 
very much esteemed on account of the excel- 
lence of their flesh, and are said to be so com- 
mon as to be sold for two-pence or three-pence 
each. 

Boswell says, " The whole breed of crested 
fowls is much esteemed by the curious, and 
reared with care." And Buffo n says, "There 
can be little doubt that all the fowls with crests 
have originated from intercrossing with the Pa- 
duan or Polish." 

It was from the crested variety of fowls that 
Mowbray stated he had obtained from five hens 
in eleven months five hundred and three eggs, 
weighing, on an average, one ounce and five 
drachms, exclusive of the shells. 



1G4 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 




SILVEK-CRESTED FOWL. 



SILVER-CRESTED FOWL. 

This superb variety of crested fowl is second 
only to the Golden, before described, in brillian- 
cy of plumage and odd contrast of colors, being 
of a silvery white ground with curious shaped 
black spots at the points or ends of the feathers. 
In size, they are less than the common fowl. 
The feathers on the crown of the head are 
longer than the others, and their assemblage 
forms an upright tuft or bunch, the colors of 
Avhich are variable ; those of the cock are rather 
an aigrette than a tuft, which gives them a light 
and airy appearance, and does not annoy or 
obstruct their sight, as it often does that of the 
Poland fowl. The comb is double and very 
small, and their wattles are smaller than those 
of other breeds. The cock has bluish ear-lobes, 
and a black collar under his throat. 

The hen is considerably smaller than the cock, 
and is acknowledged, by all who have seen her, 
the most splendid bird of the gallinaceous tribe 
they had ever met with. Her colors are simi- 
lar to the cock, about equally divided, and the 
dark spots have the appearance of scales. The 
crown or crest is unusually large, first rising 
from the head and then falling over, •which gives 



it more the appearance of a fine double full- 
blown dahlia than any thing else we can com- 
pare it with. 

The specimens from which our portraits were 
taken (and we regret to say the artist has not 
done them justice), were presented to the au- 
thor by a friend living on Staten Island, who 
said they were imported from France, and are 
said to be very prolific layers. They make 
quite a showy appearance in the poultry-yard. 
They are very scarce in this country, nor have 
we found them described in any of the old poul- 
try books. 

Those who desire to propagate any particular 
variety, must of course keep them apart, and not 
allow them to intermingle with those of a dif- 
ferent color. They are generally esteemed in 
proportion to the beauty and rareness of their 
tints. Such are the gold and silver ones, the 
penciled and spangled, and the white with black 
crests, which we have often heard of but never 
seen. 

Mr. J. Giles, of Providence, in a letter to the 
author says, " If eggs are the only object in view, 
then, as far as my experience goes, the Poland 
fowls are the best layers, seldom or ever want' 
ins to sit." 



CRESTED FOWLS. 



165 




THE RUSSIAN FOWL. 



THE RUSSIAN FOWL. 

A few of this very singular and unique va- 
riety of fowls were imported, in 1842, from Mos- 
cow, by Dr. E. Wight, of Boston, from which our 
portraits were taken. In a letter accompanying 
the portraits, the Doctor says, " I herewith send 
you a rough sketch of a cock and hen of the 
Russian or Siberian fowls. They came to hand 
a few weeks since, and are perfectly described 
by ' Dickson on Poultry.' These were procured 
for me from Moscow, and answer the description 
well, except that the feathers on the legs are 
quilled, which they will probably lose in the 
next generation, our climate being so much 
milder than at Moscow." 

In the fall of 1845 the Doctor sent us a coop 
containing the original imported fowls, together 
with several of their produce. They arrived 
in the latter part of November, while we were 
in possession of the American Hotel in Albany. 
On turning them out in the yard they appeared 
drooping and sickly, and on examination we 
found them covered and literally alive with 
vermin, one having died a few days after their 
arrival. We applied the usual remedy of rub- 



bing lard under their wings, on the back of their 
necks and heads, and sent them into the coun- 
try in charge of a faithful person, where they 
could have more room and fresher air, but it 
was to no purpose, as they all dropped off one 
after the other — and thus ended the importa- 
tion of the Russian fowls. This we much re- 
gretted, as they were rather pretty though very 
odd-looking birds. 

They were rather under size — that is, they 
were smaller than the common fowl, but larger 
than the White Bantam. They stood quite 
erect, on very short legs, which were thickly cov- 
ered with fine ordinary feathers. Their plum- 
age was a maroon, spotted with black. The 
cock had a very small comb and wattles ; the 
hen a comb only. This breed differs from all 
others that we have seen, in having large tufts 
of fine black feathers springing from each jaw, 
and some longer and fuller, not unlike a Jew's 
beard, from the lower mandible. There was also 
a tuft of upright feathers of the same silky tex- 
ture, springing from the top of the head, indi- 
cating Polish blood. The long body and singu- 
lar position in which they stand, particularly the 
hen, gives them quite a grotesque appearance. 



166 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 




THE CK1SP--FEATHEEED FOWL. 



THE CRISP-FEATHERED FOWL. 

This fowl, we are informed by Mr. Layard, 
is called in Ceylon, by the Cingalese, Capriku- 
kullo. It is rarely met with there, and the na- 
tives say they came from Batavia. This agrees 
with Temminck. 

It is the Gattus crispus of Brisson, and the 
Gallus pennis revolutis of Linnaeus. Sonini and 
Temminck agree that it is a native of Southern 
Asia, but that it is domesticated, and thrives 
well in Java, Sumatra, and all the Philippine 
Islands. It was long regarded as a mere acci- 
dental variety, but is now believed to be a dis- 
tinct species, and a native of Guiana. 

Temminck states that the prevailing color of 
the wild race is white, and that in these the legs 
are smooth ; but there are many specimens va- 
riously colored with black and brown, and some 
of these have feathered legs. 

Our engraving illustrates a newly-introduced 



variety, by some supposed to be a native of 
Japan. Its name of " Crisp-feathered fowl" 
is given from its grotesque and singular appear- 
ance — its feathers being all crisped and project- 
ing outward, giving the bird a very singular as- 
pect, which is well delineated in the wood-cut. 

Description. — The cock has an upright crest ; 
beak much hooked ; hackle slightly tinged with 
yellow ; comb cupped and toothed ; ear-lobes 
white ; feathers over the entire body white, and 
projecting from the body so as to give the bird 
an appearance of being ruffled, and of having 
its feathers rubbed in the wrong direction ; tail 
ample, and sickled ; legs bluish ; height about 
eighteen inches ; weight five and a half pounds. 

The hen is entirely white, and with feathers 
crisped as in the cock ; has also a cupped and 
toothed comb ; small, sharp head, with a small 
crest projecting backward ; height twelve inches ; 
weight four and a half pounds. 

Qualities. — This variety of fowl does not ap- 








GOLDEN SPANGLED TOLANDB. 



CRESTED FOWLS. 



107 



pear to possess any peculiar advantages, and is 
more interesting as a curiosity than valued for 
any practical purposes. The hens are not good 
layers, and their eggs are small, averaging little 
more than two ounces each in weight. They 
are described, however, as good mothers. They 
breed freely with all other domestic fowls, and 
the offspring is prolific without end. The chick- 
ens are hardy. They are said to be good table 
fowls, though small. 

THE GOLDEN-SPANGLED POLAND FOWL. 

This fowl is of no ordinary beauty ; the cock 
possesses, in a high degree, all the rich at- 
tractions of his class. He is well and very 
neatly made, has a plump and round body, and 
no very great offal. When well bred, exceed- 
ingly handsome, having golden hackles or an 
orange red ; and the back and saddle of the 
same glowing tint. The general ground color 
of the body is a clear ochre-yellow, spangled 
with black, which, in some shades, becomes a 
resplendent green. The primary feathers of 
the wing are also of the same bright ochre, 
while the wing-coverts are richly laced. The 
tail is well plumed, its sickle-feathers being 
dark brown ; but the smaller ones on the side 
are of a deeper tone of ochre laced with black. 
Below the vent and around the thighs the 
feathers are black. The legs, in both sexes, 
must be blue, or of a pale slate color, and per- 
fectly clean ; and this holds good with refer- 
ence to all the other varieties. 

The Golden-spangled hen is a most splen- 
did bird, her whole body being still more dis- 
tinctly marked in the same colors as the cock. 
The feathers of her breast, neck, and back are 
all spangled; the wing-coverts, as generally 
happens in spangled birds, being laced ; her 
tail, also, should be of the same clear tint, laced 
and tipped with black; while the top-knot is 
usually dark, and sometimes nearly black. 

An accurate description of the precise ar- 
rangement and tone of the feathering of the 
Spangled fowl is, however, a matter of some 
difficulty, since the best specimens will occa- 
sionally vary. Their colors, again, undergo 
change during the age of the bird ; for it is an 
undoubted fact that Polands generally increase 



in beauty for three or four years, and it is not 
till the third or fourth moult that they attain 
their full size and brilliancy of feather. The 
top-knot, too, we should observe, increases up 
to this period. 

Many of them are disfigured by a muff, or 
whiskers, or beard ; but no such birds should be 
allowed a place in the poultry-yard, but be dis- 
posed of at once, either by sale or the fattening- 
coop. 

THE WHITE POLAND WITH BLACK CRESTS. 

If a white fowl with a black crest ever did 
exist, it is now regarded, as in all probability, 
extinct. 

An attempt is said to have been made in En- 
gland, a few years since, to revive the White 
Folish with a black crest, by crossing the Silver 
Top-knot with a pure White Top-knot fowl. 
The experiment failed ; but it proved one thing, 
however : that it will not do to breed from the 
White Polish as a separate breed ; being albinos, 
the chicks come very weakly, and few survive. 

Buffon mentions them as if extant in France 
in his time. But Dr. Bennett, in speaking of 
this fowl, says, " This variety of Folish fowl is 
the most pure and unmixed of the three ; it is, 
indeed, the uncontaminated of the great fowl 
of St. Jago. Its color is a brilliant white, with 
a jet black top-knot. This variety was described 
by Aldrovandus, and more recently by Dr. Bech- 
stien. I have never myself seen a specimen of 
this breed, and have every reason to believe it 
to be extinct, or very nearly so. Applications 
have been made to several persons, in both Ger- 
many and Poland, connected with the poultry 
fancy, for the purpose of procuring specimens 
of these birds at any cost, but the answers re- 
turned were, without one exception, that they 
were no longer to be had." 

The following allusion to this bird, taken from 
the "Poultry Book," may interest our readers : 

'"The last good specimens I saw,' says Mr. 
Brent, 'was in the year 1845, at St. Omer, in 
France ; it was a hen, and belonged to a boat- 
builder who lived by the canal. She was of 
large size, so tliat the Malays in the same yard 
appeared small in comparison ; her color was 
white, with a large black top-knot, some few of 



168 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 




SILVEK-Sr ANGLED CRESTED FOWL. 



the feathers of which were, however, tipped with 
white ; her bill and feet were dark slate-color, 
shape very plump and round. Her owner de- 
scribed her as an excellent layer, the eggs being 
also of large size. He had endeavored to get 
others of the same breed, especially a cock, but 
hitherto without success, although they were 
said to exist in Brittany.' 

"Of these old Poles we have little personal 
knowledge. Occasionally, indeed, we have seen 
tufted fowls of larger size than the ordinary Po- 
lands of the present day, and without any ap- 
pearance of a comb. These, we presume, were 
the birds alluded to by Mr. Brent ; but our re- 
cent inquiries for them confirm the opinion of 
that gentleman, as regards their present extreme 
rarity." 

SILVER-SPANGLED CRESTED FOW r L. 

The Silver-spangled fowls are in all respects 
similar to the Golden-spangled Poland fowls 
in shape and markings, except that Avhite, black, 



and gray are exchanged for ochre or yellow, 
and various shades of brown. They are even 
more delicate in their constitution, more liable 
to rem&mjixed at a certain point of their growth, 
and still more require, and will repay, extra 
care and accommodation. Their top-knots are 
not, perhaps, so large ; but they retain the same 
neat, bluish legs, and slightly-webbed feet. It 
is curious that a bird which is quite incapable 
of swimming should have webs on its feet, while 
the Gallinule, which swims and dives well, has 
none. 

In both the Gold and Silver varieties, one 
great point is the regularity and distinctness of 
their markings; for any thing approaching a 
splashed or spotted appearance is fatal to their 
claims. Spangling and lacing are, in fact, con- 
stantly united in these birds ; for the horse-shoe 
spangle being continued up the sides of the 
feather, confers, in some degree, a laced charac- 
ter. At the same time, we are assured that those 
laced throughout, especially of the Silver kind, 



CRESTED FOWLS. 



169 



have been produced. The hens of the Silver- 
spangled Top-knots are much more ornament- 
al than the cocks ; though even they are sure 
to attract notice. They may certainly be ranked 
among the very choicest and most beautiful of 
fowls, whether we consider their beauty or their 
rarity. They lay medium-sized white eggs, 
much pointed at one end, in tolerable abund- 
ance, and when they sit, acquit themselves re- 
spectably. 
' The newly-hatched chickens are very pretty, 
creamy-white, interspersed with slaty-dun on 
the back, head, and neck, marked with longi- 
tudinal stripes down the back, with black eyes, 
light lead-colored legs, and a swelling of down 
on the crown of the head, indicative of the fu- 
ture top-knot, which is exactly the color of a 
powdered wig, and, indeed, gives the chick the 
appearance of wearing one. At a very early 
age they acquire their peculiar distinctive feat- 
ures, and are then the most elegant little min- 
iature fowls it is possible to imagine. The dis- 
tinction of sex, like the Golden, is not very man- 
ifest till they are nearly full grown, the first ob- 
servable indication being in the tail. That of 
the pullet is carried uprightly, as it should be ; 
but in the cockerel it remains depressed. 

PTAEJIIGAN FOWL. 

This curious, unique, and very interesting va- 
riety of domestic fowl was first introduced to no- 
tice at a Poultry Show, held at the Baker Street 
Bazaar, in London. In the Cottage Gardener, 
of August 4th, 1853, we find the following : 
"The greatest novelty here were the Ptarmi- 
gans, exhibited by Dr. Burney, of Brockhurst 
Lodge. The old birds are almost as small as the 
Dumpies ; white, with slightly-colored hackle ; 
white crests, and remarkably well feathered or 
booted legs. The combs are cupped, and the 
cock's tail is well sickled. 

" The chickens exhibited of this breed were 
eminently attractive ; they are of the purest 
white, light and sylphid in form, remarkably 
deeply vulture-hocked and booted. They were 
rapid and gliding in their movements, and tim- 
id, we should think, from being so repeatedly 
hunted up by the visitors to show themselves, 
for the parents are sufficiently sedate. 



"Dr. Burney informed us that they did not 
care for corn and the usual food of chickens, 
but preferred ants' eggs, and the insect food of 
a pasture. 

" However partial the domestic fowl may be 
to food of this description, it rarely happens that 
their usual granivorous habits are laid aside to 
the degree that is represented as occurring in 
this case. This circumstance, in conjunction 
with their singular combination of top-knot and 
booted legs — features that hitherto have rarely, 
if ever, been sanctioned by public taste — induced 
us to apply to Dr. Burney for any further inform- 
ation that he might be able to afford us relative 
to these curious birds. In answer to our inqui- 
ries, the following communication has most 
kindly been sent to us by that gentleman : ' In 
reply to your letter respecting the Ptarmigan 
fowls, I have much pleasure in giving you all 
the information that I am possessed of, which 
amounts to this — that a gentleman in his trav- 
els, I believe in the north of Europe, brought 
home a couple of these birds, and gave them to 
a connection of mine, from whom they passed 
into my possession. 

" ' I did not at the time place much value on 
them ; since, from their confinement and moult- 
ing, their beauty was for some months unob- 
served ; but being kept by themselves, their first 
clutch of chickens elicited the admiration of my 
neighbors, and induced me to pay more atten- 
tion to their merits, so that I have now no hesi- 
tation in stating my opinion that they will prove 
a most valuable addition to the domestic fowls 
of this country. They are elegant in their form, 
and graceful in their movements ; excellent lay- 
ers, and of hardy constitutions. Their habits 
and, in part, their appearance, resemble those 
of the Ptarmigan — berries and insects being 
preferred by them when allowed to roam in the 
woods which surrounded my residence ; still, 
when confined to a yard, they manifested no 
discontent, and the extreme beauty of their ap- 
pearance, their form and color, their splendid 
top-knots and profusely -feathered legs and feet, 
have gained them many admirers among the 
best judges of the poultry -yard.'" 

A writer in thvPoultry Chronicle says: "Mj im- 
pression of that account is, that Dr. Burney was 



170 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



uncertain whence he had first obtained them ; 
but that he had kept them for several years, 
and had found them hardy, prolific layers, and 
good table-birds ; and that from their shape, 
active habits, fondness for insects and such oth- 
er food as they could themselves discover, and 
because of the profusion of feathers on their 
legs, extending to the points of their toes, he 
named them Ptarmigans. 

"As Ptarmigans they were shown at several 
exhibitions, and had prizes awarded ; and being 
in shape, carriage, and in color (silver-white), 
very attractive birds, and, from their activity of 
leg and wing, admirably adapted to ornament 
the lawn and pleasure-grounds, considerable at- 
tention was given them. Many pens were 
bought at long prices, and eggs were sold at 
five guineas the sitting. 

"The mystery as to their origin and the 
country from whence they had come, does not 
seem to have been taken to and petted by the 
public, as mysteries sometimes are ; and after 
some months little or nothing was said about 
the Ptarmigans, except by the few who. had 
kept and admired them, not less for their use- 
ful than their pleasing qualities. 

"Early in September, 1853, a pen of fowls 
were shown at the exhibition of the Devon and 
Cornwall Poultry Society, as Turkey fowls, by 
Mr. Snow, the gardener to the Earl of Morley. 
The judge on the occasion, the Rev. W. W. 
Wingneld, thought these birds had some affinity 
to the Ptarmigans, although in many respects 
unlike them. Shortly after this a gentleman, 
who had bought some chickens of Dr. Burney, 
brought them to Plymouth, and they were seen 
by me ; the result being inquiries which led 
to the discovery of fowls of the same breed in 
the neighborhood of Plymouth, and that Dr. 
Burney's fowls were obtained from the same 
stock as those shown by Mr. Snow as ' Turkey 
fowls.' 

" Further inquiries have furnished the reason 
of their being called Turkey fowls. It appears 
that some twelve or fourteen years since, W. 
Soady, R.N., asked his friend, J. E. Elworthy, 
Esq., if his son, who was then at Galatz, could 
bring home any thing from that country for him. 
Mr. Elworthy, being a poultry-fancier, replied, 



that if he could obtain for him any white-legged 
fowls he should be obliged. Some months after 
this, a seaman brought to Mount Plym three odd- 
looking creatures, almost without feathers ;. the 
color of the few left being very uncertain, by rea- 
son of the dirty state they were in. Mr. Elworthy 
was not at home at the time, and when he came, 
having forgot his request to Mr. Soady, was 
puzzled as to whence and how this new impor- 
tation could have been made. The conversa- 
tion with his friend was subsequently brought 
to his mind. The birds soon got feathers, and 
looked very handsome. On seeing Mr. Soady, 
he learnt that they were bought in Constanti- 
nople market, and that during a rough passage 
home the fowls had been a good deal kicked 
about, the cock having been washed overboard 
and recovered in the Mediterranean. 

" They proved favorites with their new own- 
er, and evidently prospered in this country. 
He found them good layers, and but seldom 
disposed to sit ; but having raised some chick- 
ens, he presented the imported birds to Sir 
W. Burnett. Some of the fowls subsequently 
passed into the possession of Colonel J. Elliott, 
G. T. Shortland, Esq., of Lipson, and others. 

"At Lipson the breed has been kept pure to 
the present time. From Lipson some chickens 
were taken to Glassbrook, Devon, by Mr. Lowe, 
and others, their produce, presented to Mrs. Dr. 
Burney, now some years since. For several 
years they ran about Dr. Burney's house, but 
little talked about, or perhaps noticed, until 
some keen poultry-fancier made an offer to pur- 
chase the stock, that induced the Doctor to open 
his eyes, in surprise, at their value. This, I pre- 
sume, will be thought sufficient to settle the fact 
of Dr. Burney's Ptarmigans being the descend- 
ants of the fowls brought from Turkey by young 
Mr. Soady some thirteen or fourteen years since ; 
but if any doubt be possible, add another fact : 
when Dr. Burney was aroused to the value of 
his fowls, he applied to Mr. Stanly Lowe, from 
whose family they had come to the Doctor's 
hands, to buy him up all the sort he could, and, 
as I am told, offered a high price for his own 
stock. Mr. Lowe let the Doctor have his own 
stock, four birds, but could not induce Mr. 
Shortland to part with his. 



CHESTED FOWLS. 



171 



" One word as to the country whence these 
fowls have been brought. Since I first saw the 
Ptarmigans of S. P. Smyth, Esq. (who bought 
from Dr. Burney), and from which my chickens, 
that took the prize at the recent show at Plymp- 
ton, were bred, two gentlemen of this neighbor- 
hood have had brought to them fowls of the 
same description from Constantinople. Captain 
T. Russell, now commander of the well-known 
Himalaya, recently in the Black Sea, early in 
the present year (1854) brought home three 
fowls purchased in the Constantinople market 
which are clearly the same sort as Dr. Burney's 
Ptarmigans, and Mr. Blackwell, of Stoke, Dev- 
onport, had sent him some of the same descrip- 
tion in return to a request to a friend, not a 
poultry-fancier, to send him home some of the 
ordinary fowls of the Bosphorus." 

" When the Ptarmigans made their debut last 
season," says a writer in the Poultry Chronicle, 
" every one was asking, 'What are their merits ?' 
but from want of certain facts to go upon, a sat- 
isfactory answer was not returned to the query. 
I now, however, send you the doings of four 
hens of mine, extracted from my egg-book, giv- 
ing the number of eggs laid by them from the 
1st of April to 27th of May. And I am quite 
content to leave it to you to decide whether the 
product, added to their extreme beauty, does 
not entitle them to a higher rank than that of 
mere 'fancy fowls.' I may add, that my expe- 
rience leads me to place them among the non- 
sitting varieties. My four hens laid in April, 
90, and up to May 27, 89 eggs ; total, in fifty- 
nine days, 179 eggs!" 

THE DOMINIQUE, OR CUCKOO POLAND. 

This is a handsome bird, but as yet hardly 
known in England. " The best specimens," say 
the writers of the "Poultry Book," "we are 
aware of are limited to the yard of Mr. Viv- 
ian, the well-known cultivator of the Polish va- 
rieties. The blending of the different shades 
of gray, that form the cuckoo plumage, is here 
most delicately displayed. The hens arc wholly 
of this feathering ; but in the cock it is seen on 
the breast only, white predominating on their 
backs, wings, and tails. They are bearded, and 
have top-knots nearly white. 



" What we have termed the Gray, or Grizzled 
Poland, has the plumage of the Penciled Ham- 
burgs in their relative sexes, but without the 
clearness that would be insisted on with the lat- 
ter breed. They are heavily bearded, with top- 
knots of full dimensions, and, from their uni- 
form appearance and very robust form, are at- 
tractive objects in any poultry-yard. 

" The pair that we now possess came from a 
clergyman near Bridport, who has bred them for 
twelve years without crying back in the chick- 
ens — a strong test of a pure descent ; which, from 
their manifest resemblance to the feathering of 
the Penciled Hamburgs, might possibly be called 
in question. 

"The two next varieties that stand on our 
list — the Black and White Speckled, and the 
Blue with White Top-knots — we have never 
seen; but they have been noticed on the Con- 
tinent by one of our best Polish fanciers. 

"The Yellow-spangled Poland is probably 
the most beautiful of its class ; arid here, as 
with the Cuckoos, we are indebted to Mr. Viv- 
ian, who introduced them into this country. 

"In both sexes the top-knot and beard are 
white, with a very slight admixture of yellow 
feathers. The cock's hackle, back, and wings 
are yellow, with occasional white feathers ; the 
tail yellow and white, with a preponderance of 
the latter ; but his breast is yellow, perfectly 
spangled with white, which is also the case with 
the hen's neck, breast, and back ; her wings are 
yellow, the wing-coverts laced with white, the 
tail feathers being also similarly tipped. 

" The extreme softness of the bearded Po- 
land's feathers is very remarkable in this varie- 
ty. The plumes on the higher part of the shaft 
especially, rivaling in texture the softest floss- 
silk. 

" Here, also, we have an example of our pre- 
vious remark, that Polands go on improving in 
plumage, as well as size, till the third or even 
the fourth year ; since, in these yellow-spangled 
birds, their more delicate tints are but imper- 
fectly developed in their first season, the beard 
especially remaining of a pale-dun color, and 
the top-knot of a still darker tint ; and this im- 
provement is continued till the full period we 
have before mentioned." 



172 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 




TUB SE2AI TAOOK, OB SULTAU S FOWL. 



THE SEEAI TAOOK, OR SULTAN S FOWL. 

These fowls were sent from Constantinople 
to the editress of the Poultry Chronicle, pub- 
lished in London, by a friend living there, in 
January, 1852. 

" A year before," she says, " we had sent him 
some Cochin China fowls, with which he was 
very much pleased ; and when his son soon 
after came to England, he could send from 
Turkey some fowls with which we should be 
pleased. Scraps of information about muffs 
and divers beauties and decorations arrived be- 
fore the fowls, and led to expectations of some- 
thing much prettier than the pretty Ptarmigans, 
in which we had always noticed a certain un- 
certainty of tuft and comb. 



"In January, they arrived in a steamer chief- 
ly manned by Turks, we should fancy much 
dirtier and in worse plight than the arrival at 
Mount Plym. The voyage had been very long 
and rough, and poor fowls so rolled over and 
glued into one mass of filth were never seen. 
Months afterward, with the aid of one of the 
first fanciers in the country, we spent an hour 
in trying to ascertain whether the feathers of 
the cock were white or striped, and almost con- 
cluded that the last was the true state of the 
case, although they had been described by our 
friend as ' Bellissimi galli Beanchi.' 

"We at once saw enough to make us 
very unwilling to be entirely dependent for 
the breed on the one sad-looking gentleman, 
with his tuft heavy with dirt for a mantle, 



CEESTED FOWLS. 



173 



and his long, clogged tail hanging round one 
side. 

" We wrote directly for another importation, 
especially for a cock, and to ask the name they 
had at home. In answer to the first request, 
we found that good fowls of the kind are diffi- 
cult to get there; our friends have ever since 
been trying to get us two or three more; but 
can not succeed either in Constantinople or oth- 
er parts of Turkey ; the first he can meet with 
will be sent. With regard to the name, he told 
us they were called ' Serai Taook :' Serai, as is 
known by every reader of Eastern lore, is the 
name of the Sultan's palace. Taook is Turkish 
for fowl; the simplest translation of this is 
'Sultan's Fowls,' or 'Fowls of the Sultan;' a 
name which has the double advantage of being 
the nearest to be found to that by which they 
have been known in their own country from 
which they came. 

"Time very soon restored the fowls to perfect 
health and partial cleanliness; but it was not un- 
til after the moulting season that they showed 
themselves as the ' Bellissimi galli Beanchi,' de- 
scribed by our Constantinople friend. 



" They are superor to the Ptarmigan in gen- 
eral character, resembling rather our White 
Polands, but with more abundant furnishing, 
and shorter legs, which are vulture-hocked, and 
feathered to the toes. 

" In general habits they are much like other 
fowls, brisk, and happy-tempered ; but not kept 
in as easily as Cochin Chinas. They are very 
good layers; their eggs are large and white; 
they are non-sitters and small eaters. A grass 
run with them will remain green long after the 
crop would have been cleared by either Brah- 
mas or Cochins, and with scattered food they 
soon become satisfied and walk away. 

"They are the size of our English Poland 
fowls; but it seems likely that the young ones 
will be rather larger. Their plumage is white 
and flowing. They have a full-sized, compact 
Poland tuft on the head; are muffied, have a 
good flowing tail, short, well-feathered legs, and 
five toes upon each foot. One fowl, which came 
over with them, was exactly like the Ptarmi- 
gan ; we have met with a very few such from 
Constantinople, but never saw any of exactly 
the same kind as our own Serai Taook." 




174 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



INCUBATION. 



In hatching of poultry, as in most other 
things, nature is the best guide ; and nature de- 
signs that every hen shall sit upon her own eggs, 
and hatch her own progeny. But the domes- 
tic fowl is in an artificial state, and deviations 
from the laws of nature are, therefore, to be ex- 
pected. A wild hen will lay no more eggs than 
she can conveniently cover, and her periods for 
laying and for incubation will be fixed and reg- 
ular. Some lay every day, or every other day, 
for nine months out of the twelve, and rarely 
evince a desire to incubate ; while others man- 
ifest this desire, some at one period, and others 
at another period. Among a flock of hens 
these diversities will show themselves, and ad- 
vantage may be taken of them with benefit to 
their owner. 

It is well known that when a certain number 
of eggs has been laid, the hen shows an inclina- 
tion to sit. She has a peculiar sort of clucking, 
and a feverish state ensues, in which the natural 
heat of the hen's body is very much increased. 
The inclination soon becomes a strong ungov- 
ernable passion, which appears a blind instinct ; 
for she will sit upon one egg or twenty, upon 
a piece of chalk or a stone ; and if fresh eggs 
are supplied, she will sit for six weeks. In 
this state she flutters about, hangs her wings, 
bristles up her feathers, searches in every nook 
and corner, evidently ill at ease, for eggs to sit 
upon ; and if she finds any, she immediately 
seats herself upon them. In high-fed hens this 
instinctive desire comes on sooner than in such 
as are not supplied with food in abundance, and 
it may be induced by stimulating diet, a little 
raw liver, and fresh meat, chopped small, pota- 
toes mashed warm, with milk and coarse corn 
meal. 



By high feeding, some hens — especially the 
Dorking, Cochin, or Shanghai breeds, which are 
sitters, and take the pre-eminence over all other 
breeds — may be induced to sit in October, espe- 
cially if they have moulted early. Advantage 
may be taken of this circumstance at the South, 
and chickens may be obtained fit for the table 
by Christmas — not, however, without great care 
and trouble. The incubation must take place, 
and the chickens be reared and fed, in a warm 
room, if necessary, kept at an equal temperature. 
Generally speaking, spring chickens are more 
desirable, which should be hatched in the latter 
part of January or first of February, so as to be 
ready for the market in May and June. They 
require great care, but they return an ample 
profit. 

The most usual time in which hens manifest 
a desire to incubate, extends from March to 
April, May, and June, and at this season chick- 
ens may be reared without any extraordinary 
precautions. 

A hen is generally ill to please in the choice 
of her nest. The hen and duck, if left to 
themselves, find some dry, warm, sandy hedge, 
or bank, in which to deposit their eggs, form- 
ing their nests of moss, leaves, or dry grass. In 
this way the warmth is retained in the nest 
for the few moments she devotes to her hurried 
and scanty meal. When the determination be- 
comes fixed — there is no need to indulge the 
first faint indications immediately — let her have 
the nest she has selected, well cleaned and fill- 
ed with fresh straw or hay, underlaid with dry 
wood-ashes or tobacco-stems, as they produce 
the effect of destroying or preventing vermin, 
by which they are apt to be infested at that time. 
The number of eggs to be given to her will de- 



INCUBATION. 



pend upon the season, and upon their and her 
own size. The safest plan is not to be too greedy. 
The number of chickens hatched is often in 
inverse proportion to the eggs set. We have 
known only four or five to be obtained from 
eighteen eggs. Where every thing was agree- 
able we have known instances in which all the 
eggs, to the number of sixteen, have been hatch- 
ed. Hens will in general cover from eleven to 
thirteen eggs, if laid by themselves. Sometimes 
the hen may lay more eggs, or others lay in the 
same nest ; in such cases we have found it nec- 
essary to mark the eggs with ink, and if fresh 
ones should be laid, they could be readily dis- 
tinguished and removed, as they would be too 
late in hatching. 

If a hen is really determined to sit, it is use- 
less, as well as cruel, to attempt to divert her 
from her object. The means usually prescribed 
are such as no humane person would willingly 
put in practice. If the season is too early to 
give a hope of rearing gallinaceous birds, the 
eggs of ducks or geese may generally be had, 
and the young may be brought up with a little 
pains-taking, as well as by their natural parent. 
And if it be required to retain the services of 
the hen for expected valuable eggs, she may be 
beguiled for a week or two with four or five ad- 
dled or glass eggs, till the choice ones should 
be received. 

For hatching and to have eggs productive, 
they must be fresh, and must not be exposed to 
noxious effluvia or moisture. Those intended 
for incubation should always be gathered with 
more care than if they were merely to be em- 
ployed for aliment. They should be of an aver- 
age size and ordinary form, avoiding very small 
eggs, which have generally no yolk, and those 
which are ill-shaped, or of equal thickness at 
both ends, as the latter are the usual shape of 
such eggs as have double yolks, which, though 
good for culinary purposes, are not so for hatch- 
ing; for if they prove productive, the produce 
is generally monsters with two heads, four legs, 
and the like. Instances have occurred, but 
rarely, where two and even three chickens were 
hatched from one egg. 

It has generally been found that hens which 
are the best layers are the worst sitters. Those 



which we have found best adapted for that pur- 
pose have short legs, a broad body, large wings 
well furnished with feathers, their nails and 
spurs not too long or sharp. 

During the period of incubation a good sit- 
ter will not leave her nest for more than a few 
minutes at a time, to provide her food, and at 
intervals of from one to three days. So pow- 
erful, too, is this instinct, that they have been 
known to remain on their nests until they have 
perished with hunger. To prevent such an oc- 
currence, it has been recommended to feed them 
daily in this situation ; but from our experience 
it seems the best plan to let them follow the 
dictates of their own instinct, and when they 
desire food and water, let them seek it in the 
poultry-yard. 

After twenty-one days a good sitter will bring 
out her chickens, and as soon as she be- 
comes a mother her whole character is changed. 
From being peaceful and cowardly, she becomes 
a noisy termagant, fighting with all her female 
friends, and avoiding chanticleer as her most 
dreadful foe. All her former feelings and hab- 
its become absorbed in increasing maternal so- 
licitude. She turns out to be frugal, generous, 
sober, reserved, courageous, and intrepid. She 
assumes, indeed, all the qualities of the cock, 
and even carries them to a higher degree of 
perfection. When we see her come into the 
poultry-yard, surrounded by her little ones for 
the first time, it seems as if she were proud of 
her new dignity, and takes a great pleasure in 
performing her duty. Her eyes are lively, ani- 
mated, and constantly on the alert; her looks 
are so quick and rapid that she could take in 
every object at one glance ; and she appears to 
discover at once the smallest seed on the ground, 
which she points out to her young ones ; and 
in the air, if she discovers the bird of prey, she 
dreads for their sake, and giving them warning 
by a peculiar cry, she induces them immediate- 
ly to hide themselves. 

Incessantly taken up with their welfare, she 
excites them to follow her and to eat; she 
picks them food ; she scratches the ground in 
search of worms which she gives up to them ; 
she stops now and then, squats down, opens her 
wings, and invites her tender brood to conic and 



176 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



gather around and warm themselves beneath 
her. She continues to bestow these cares on 
them until they are quite feathered, when they 
are fit to shift for themselves. 

The first day after hatching, the chickens do 
not want to eat, and should be left in the nest. 
The next day, the whole brood being hatched, 
the hen with them may be removed and placed 
in a box with high sides, if the weather be cold 
or wet; or put under a coop, upon a dry, shel- 
tered spot, and, if possible, not within reach of 
another hen, since the chickens will mix, and 
the hens are apt to injure, and often kill such 
as do not belong to them. Nor should they be 
placed near other fowls, as they would rob them 
of their food. 

Their first food may be eggs boiled hard and 
chopped fine, or curd broken fine ; coarse corn 
meal or millet, fed sparingly, a little at a time 
and often at first, as, from our experience, we 
are certain more chickens are destroyed by 
over-feeding than are lost by the want of it. 
We have remarked also, that hens which stole 
their nests generally hatched all the eggs ; and 
if suffered to seek the food for their chickens, if 
the season be somewhat advanced, they would, 
unless some casualty occurred, raise the whole 
of their broods, while with too much kindness or 
ofnciousness, not half would be raised. All wa- 
tery food, such as soaken bread, or potatoes, 
should be avoided. If Indian meal is well boil- 
ed, and fed not too moist, it will answer a very 
good purpose, particularly after they are eight or 
ten days old. Pure water must be placed near 
them, either in shallow dishes or bottle-fount- 
ains, as in page 77, that the chickens may drink 
without getting into the water, which, by wet- 
ting their feathers, benumbs and injures them. 
After having confined them for five or six days 
in the box, they may be allowed the range of 
the yard if the weather is fair. They should 
not be let out of their coops too early in the 
morning, or while the dew is on the ground, 
far less be suffered to range over the wet grass, 
which is a common and fatal cause of disease 
and death. Another cause of the utmost con- 
sequence to guard them against, is sudden, un- 
favorable changes of the weather, more partic- 
ularly if attended with rain. Nearly all the dis- 



eases of gallinaceous fowls arise from cold mois- 
ture. 

At the end of four weeks the hen may be al- 
lowed to lead her little ones into the poultry- 
yard, where she will soon leave them and com- 
mence laying again. It should be the aim to 
have some of the hens hatch as early as possi- 
ble, so that the chickens will attain a good size 
by the first of July ; and, if fat, will return the 
best profit in market, in proportion to their age 
and food consumed. They are naturally most 
fat at six weeks old, or about the time they 
leave the hen, and have not run off their brood- 
ing flesh by exertion for food and by growth. 
Particular birds can be selected for breeding 
stock, as their color and form will be by that 
time apparent, so as to make the choice with 
safety ; also, it will be easy to tell the males 
from the females. 

If their keep costs nothing, and they are 
raised near or are convenient to a market, they 
may, in some cases, be advantageously retained 
till the holidays, when they seldom fail to com- 
mand a ready sale and a good price ; but if a 
large number are raised, they will, of course, 
require to be marketed regularly. Of this, how- 
ever, the farmer will be the best judge. In 
many cases it will be more advantageous to sell 
to the dealers, who travel the country in all di- 
rections with wagons prepared to take the fowls 
from the yard, and pay cash price sufficient- 
ly liberal to return a handsome profit to the 
breeder. 

The process of incubation of the chicken is a 
subject curious and interesting to the student 
of nature. It generally takes twenty-one days 
to hatch a brood of chickens, although a close- 
sitting hen will sometimes hatch in eighteen 
days, if the weather is favorable. The expira- 
tion of the time should be carefully watched 
for; not that the chicken requires any assist- 
ance, but, on the contrary, interference with 
them is much more likely to injure than benefit 
them ; a healthy chick will perform all that is 
required to free it from the shell. It is truly 
wonderful the power they possess while rolled 
up in so apparently helpless a mass ; but so it 
is, and the head, that makes the most exertion, 
is placed so as to leave room for reaction, and 



INCUBATION. 



177 




to turn round, and thus to peck a circle, as seen 
in the above illustration, and breaks a circle 
around the large end of the shell, admitting the 
air by degrees, until it becomes gradually pre- 
pared to extricate itselt A rash attempt to 
help them by breaking the shell, particularly in 
a downward direction toward the smaller end, 
is often followed by a loss of blood, which can 
ill be spared, and death ensues. 

The following account of the wonderful 
changes which an egg undergoes in hatching, 
from the first day till its final exclusion, is par- 
ticularly interesting, and is taken from an En- 
glish journal. By means of the Eccaleobion 
and hatching-ovens, many interesting facts have 
been discovered, and are described with great 
minuteness. 

" The hen has scarcely sat on her eggs twelve 
hours before some lineaments of the head and 
body of the chicken appear. The heart may 
be seen to beat at the end of the second day; 
it has at that time somewhat the form of a 
horseshoe, but no blood yet appears. At the 
end of two days, two vesicles of blood are to be 
distinguished, the pulsation of which is very 
visible ; one of these is the left ventricle, and 
the other the root of the great artery. At the 
fiftieth hour, one auricle of the heart appears, 
resembling a noose folded down upon itself. 
The beating of the heart is first observed in the 
auricle, and afterward in the ventricle. At the 
end of seventy hours, the wings are distinguish- 
able ; and on the head two bubbles are seen for 
the brain, one for the bill, and two for the fore 
M 



and hind part of the head. Toward the end of 
the fourth day, the two auricles already visible 
draw nearer to the heart than before. The 
liver appears toward the fifth day. At the end 
of a hundred and thirty-one hours, the first vol- 
untary motion is observed. At the end of seven 
hours more, the lungs and the stomach become 
visible ; and four hours afterward, the intestines, 
the loins, and the upper jaw. At the hundred 
and forty-fourth hour, two ventricles are visible, 
and two drops of blood instead of the single one 
which was seen before. The seventh day, the 
brain begins to have some consistency. At the 
hundred and nineteenth hour of incubation, the 
bill opens, and the flesh appears in the breast. 
In four hours more, the breast-bone is seen. In 
six hours after this, the ribs appear, forming 
from the back, and the bill is very visible, as well 
as the gall-bladder. The bill becomes green at 
the end of two hundred and thirty-six hours ; 
and if the chicken be taken out of its covering, 
it evidently moves itself. The feathers begin 
to shoot out toward the two hundred and for- 
tieth hour, and the skull becomes gristly. At 
the two hundred and sixty-fourth hour, the eyes 
appear. At the two hundred and eighty-eighth, 
the ribs are perfect. At the three hundred and 
thirty-first, the spleen draws near the stomach, 
and the lungs to the chest. At the end of three 
hundred and fifty-five hours, the bill frequently 
opens and shuts; and at the end of the eight- 
eenth day, the first ciy of the chicken is heard. 
It afterward gets more strength and grows con- 
tinually, till at length it is enabled to set itself 
free from its confinement. 

"In the whole of this process we must re- 
mark that every part appears at its proper time; 
if, for example, the liver is formed on the fifth 
day, it is founded on the preceding situation of 
the chicken, and on the changes that were to 
follow. No part of the body could possibly ap- 
pear either sooner or later without the whole 
embryo suffering; and each of the limbs be- 
comes visible at the first moment. This ordi- 
nation, so wise and so invariable, is manifestly 
the work of a Supreme Being ; but we must still 
more sensibly acknowledge His creative powers, 
when we consider the manner in which the 
chicken is formed out of the parts which com- 



J 78 



THE AMEEICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 






FIRST, MIDDLE, AND LAST STAGES OF THE CHICK. 



pose the egg. How astonishing it must appear 
to an observing mind, that in this substance 
there should at all be the vital principle of an 
animated being; that all the parts of an ani- 
mal's body should be concealed in it, and re- 
quire nothing but heat to unfold and quicken 
them ; that the whole formation of the chicken 
should be so constant and regular that, exactly 
at the same time, the same changes will take 
place in the generality of eggs; that the chick- 
en, the moment it is hatched, is heavier than 
the egg was before ! But even these are not 
all the wonders in the formation of the bird 
from the egg — for this instance will serve to il- 
lustrate the whole of the feathered tribe — there 
are others altogether hidden from our observa- 
tions, and of which, from our very limited fac- 
ulties, we must ever remain ignorant." 

ARTIFICIAL HATCHING. 

The method of artificial hatching, or the proc- 
ess of bringing the vitalized embryo of the egg 
through all its stages of development, until the 
chick makes its exit from the shell, by artificial 
heat, has long been practiced in China and 
Egypt, but has never, we believe, until recently, 
been attempted in this country. It is, however, 
resorted to in some countries to a considerable 
extent, and experiments in England, France, 
and our own country have been successful ; but 
whether the plan will ever become general is 
questionable. 

The first notices we have of hatching chick- 
ens artificially, without the aid of hens, are to 



be found in Aristotle and Pliny. The latte" 
mentions that the Roman empress, Livia, hatch- 
ed an egg by carrying it about in her " warme 
bosome ;" and this probably gave origin to the 
device of late to lay eggs in some warm place, 
and to make a gentle fire underneath of small 
straw or light chaff, to give a kind of moderate 
heat; but, even more, the eggs must be turned 
by man or woman's hand both night and day ; 
and so at the same time they looked for chick- 
ens and had them. 

The art has been extensively practiced in 
Egypt and China from an unknown period of 
time. In the former place immense numbers 
of eggs are hatched by heat in ovens or mam- 
mels, and officers are appointed by government 
to superintend the process, and receive a part 
of the produce as pay. About the middle of 
January the ovens are inspected and repaired ; 
and as they are public, and as each has a cir- 
cuit of fifteen or twenty villages, notice is given 
to the inhabitants, so as they may come and 
bring their eggs. As soon as a suitable quan- 
tity of eggs is collected together, they are put 
into the rooms that are to serve for the first 
brood ; for the whole of the ovens are never 
employed at once on the same brood, but only 
one half of those which the building contains. 

It is asserted by Barron that it is practiced 
by the Chinese families who live constantly on 
the water. They deposit the eggs in sand, at 
the bottom of wooden boxes, placed on iron 
plates and kept moderately heated. 

As there is no prospect of any of our coun- 



INCUBATION. 



179 






=^-=--=^-^- 






■$■ 


SidlHffiii!ii»riJihii:-H!r.ii'::i". ; : j 



EEAUMUUS HATCHING APPARATUS. 



trymen entering into the business on the Egyp- 
tian method, we will not detain the reader by a 
description of these ovens ; other and less ex- 
pensive plans have been adopted. The same 
feat performed by Livia has been accomplished 
in New Jersey, where a lady in Monmouth 
County patiently hatched two chickens, which 
she successfully raised. Some French ladies 
have in the same way proved themselves moth- 
ers of canaries and other birds. 

"On this," says Ames, "I have heard an 
amusing anecdote, which I give as a hint for 
the advantage of those similarly situated. I am 
sure its veracity may be relied on. An indus- 
trious farmer's wife in New Jersey had a hus- 
band, or a thing she was obliged to call so, who 
was intemperate, hypochondriac, and lazy; and 
after a debauch would sometimes remain in bed 
for several weeks, from which -no persuasion or 
art could rouse him. His active rib hit upon 
an expedient to turn this to account, and im- 
mediately put it in practice. She procured a 
quantity of fresh eggs, and rolling them in wool 
and flannel, placed them around him in the bed 
so as to receive the necessary warmth, and in 
due time were brought forth a pretty flock of 
chickens. It was then farther surmised that, 
finding him more useful in this capacity of an 
old hen than in any other, she encouraged him, 
by 'tiny drops, to lengthen his periods of incu- 
bation." 



But to return to the hatching apparatus. 
Many experiments have been made, especially 
by the celebrated French naturalist and philos- 
opher, M. Reaumur, under the immediate at- 
tention of the French king, which Mere pub- 
lished in a treatise of five hundred pages, with 
plates. It states that he found the proper de- 
gree of heat to be about ninety degrees of Fah- 
renheit. He thinks it perfectly practicable. 

Oliver de Serres, the father of French agri- 
culture, describes a little portable oven, of iron 
or copper, in which eggs were arranged and 
surrounded with feathers, and covered with soft 
cushions, heat having been communicated by 
means of four lamps, but he says it was more 
curious than useful. 

The incubation of chickens by hot water 
is said to be the invention of M. Bonnemain, 
of Paris. The illustration on the following 
page is a section of his apparatus, consisting 
of a boiler, a; a box or building, b, for hatch- 
ing eggs ; a cage or coop, c, for rearing the 
chickens ; tubes, d, for circulating the hot wa- 
ter; a supply tube, h, and funnel, e, and safety 
tube, f. Supposing the water heated in the 
boiler, it will rise by its specific gravity through 
the tube, d, move backward and forward through 
all the tubes, and return again to the boiler at 
Jc, which is inserted in the top like the other, 
but passes down to its lower part, /. This cir- 
culating movement once commenced, continues 



180 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 




];ON"NEMAIN S INCUBATOR. 



so long as the water is heated in the hoiler, be- 
cause the temperature is never equal through- 
out all parts of the apparatus. We may readily 
conceive that a perfect equality of temperature 
can never exist, on account of the continual 
loss of heat, which escapes from the exertions 
of all the tubes. Meanwhile the temperature 
of the air inclosed in the box differs but little 
from that of the numerous tubes which traverse 
it ; and as the bends of the tubes on the outside 
of the box afford but little surface to be cooled 
by the surrounding air, so the force of the cir- 
culation, which is always in the ratio of the dif- 
ference between the temperature of the waters 
passing out of the calorifere and re-entering it, 
does not become greatly diminished, even after 
having expended a large portion of its heat on 
the outside of the box, in maintaining a gentle 
heat in the cage, c, adjoining to it. We see, 
therefore, the more the M r ater is cooled which 
passes through the last circumvolutions of the 
tubes, the more active is the circulation in all 
parts, and consequently the more equal is the 
temperature of all the tubes which heat the box, 
and of the air within it ; indeed, to prevent the 
loss of heat as much as possible, the boiler, and 
all those parts of the tubes which are placed on 
the exterior of the box, are enveloped in lists 
of woolen cloth. M. Bonnemain having thus 
applied these principles with so much skill, is 
always enabled to maintain in these boxes an 



equal temperature, varying scarcely so much as 
half a degree of Reaumur's thermometer; but 
as if it was not sufficient to have thus far re- 
solved the problem, he contrived that this de- 
gree of temperature in all parts of the stove 
should be maintained at that point which was 
found most favorable for promoting incubation. 
It was by means of an apparatus for regulating 
the fire that he attained this desirable object. 
The action of this regulator is founded on the 
unequal dilation of different metals by heat. A 
movement is communicated near to the axis of 
a balanced lever, which lever transmits it by an 
iron wire to a register in the ash-pit door of the 
furnace. Combustion is by these means abated 
or increased. 

When we would hatch chickens by hot water, 
we light the fire and raise the temperature till 
we obtain that degree of heat in the box which 
is fitted for incubation ; we then place the eggs 
near to each other upon the shelves with boil- 
ers to them. It is convenient not to cover, on 
the first day, more than a twentieth part of the 
superficies of the shelves, and to add every day, 
for twenty days, an equal quantity of eggs ; so 
that we may obtain every day nearly the same 
number of chickens ; but which, nevertheless, 
may be occasionally regulated by the particular 
season of the year. 

During the first days of incubation, whether 
natural or artificial, the small portion of water 



INCUBATION. 



181 



contained within the substance of the egg evap- 
orates through the pores in its shell ; this is re- 
placed by a small quantity of air, which is nec- 
essary to support the respiration of the chick ; 
but as the atmospheric air which surrounds the 
eggs in the box at that degree of temperature 
is either completely dry or but little humid, so 
the chick would greatly suffer, or finally perish 
from this kind of desiccation. The aqueous va- 
por which exhales from the breathing of the old 
fowls while hatching, in some degree prevents 
this ill-effect ; but nevertheless, in dry seasons, 
the vapor is hardly sufficient, and thus, in order 
that the eggs may be better hatched in the dry 
seasons, the hens cover them with the earth of 
the floor of the granary. In artificial incuba- 
tion, to keep the air in the stove constantly 
humid, they place in it flat vessels, such as 
shallow dishes, filled with water. When the 
chickens are hatched, they are removed from 
the stove and carried to the cage, where they 
are fed with millet, and nestle under a sheep- 
skin with wool on it, suspended over them. 
They also separate, by means of partitions in 
the cage, the chickens as they are hatched each 
day, in order to modify their nourishment agree- 
ably to their age. Artificial incubation is ex- 
ceedingly useful in furnishing young fowls at 
those seasons when the hens will not sit, and, 
in some situations, to produce, or, as we may 
say, indeed, to manufacture, a great number of 
fowls in a small space. 

A method somewhat similar to M. Bonne- 
main's, to which a long Greek name has been 
given, has been put in operation at Pall Mall, 
.London, and exhibited at 25 cents each person. 
In Chambers's Edinburgh Journal is a description 
of the Eccaleobion. It is a room on one side of 
which is a large oblong case placed against the 
wall, divided into eight parts, each one of which 
is warmed by steam pipes, and which are used 
for hatching the eggs. The bottom of these 
boxes or parts, and indeed the whole, is lined 
with cloth, and is covered with eggs lying at a 
little distance from each other. There is a jug 
of water in each part to preserve a proper de- 
gree of moisture to the air in the divisions. 
The meaning of having eight boxes is to insure 
a batch of chickens every two or three days. 



Each part holds some two or three hundred 
eggs, or about two thousand in the whole. 
From twenty-one to twenty-three days are re- 
quired to hatch the eggs, and as those are pur- 
chased in the market, from one-third to one- 
half prove worthless. None but new eggs should 
be used for the Eccaleobion. 

When the chickens appear they are not im- 
mediately removed from the oven, but remain 
a few hours until dry, when they are taken from 
the oven and put into a glass case or box made 
shallow and the sash-lid easily removable. They 
are not fed for twenty-four hours after hatching, 
and the material then used is a coarse meal grit, 
which they pick up with great eagerness — in- 
stinct, in this case, supplying the want of the 
mother. They are kept in this case two or three 
days, when they are put into divisions on an- 
other part of the floor of the same large and 
warm apartment. At dusk they are put into a 
coop or box, with a flannel curtain and cover- 
ing, where they rest with as much quietness as 
under the wing of the mother. In the morning 
they are turned into the yard, which is cleaned 
and strewed with sand. When three weeks or 
a month old they fetch in market one shilling 
each. It thus appears that all that is necessary 
to form a chicken establishment is suitable 
rooms and a steady supply of the proper heat, 
fresh eggs, and constant attention. 

At the meeting of the Royal Agricultural So- 
ciety at Bristol, in 1842, a small machine for 
hatching chickens artificially was exhibited by 
the inventor, Mr. C. Appleyard, of London. As 
the notice was unaccompanied by a descrip- 
tion, we can only say such a machine was ex- 
hibited. 

It seems by no means so difficult to succeed 
in hatching chickens artificially as to rear them 
after they are hatched. 

Some few years since an egg-hatching ma- 
chine was exhibited, in full operation, in New 
York, bringing out the little chickens with all 
the punctuality of an old hen. 

The machine, in outward appearance, forms 
an oblong box about five feet in length, three 
feet and a half in width, and four and a half 
feet high, divided into eight compartments, with 
narrow glazed doors. The bottoms or floors of 



182 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



these apartments are covered with flannel, on 
which the eggs are laid. The divisions inside 
are tin, probably hollow, to contain hot water 
or steam, which is generated in a small cylinder 
standing in the centre of the machine, and ex- 
tending through the top of the box, and a small 
pipe conducts off the smoke. In one end of 
the machine hangs a thermometer, apparently 
partly immersed in the water, by which the 
temperature is noted. 

In one of the apartments we noticed some of 
the chickens busily employed liberating them- 
selves from their imprisonment, coming forth 
into light and existence, rolling and tumbling 
about in all directions, and all through the agen- 
cy of artificial means. 

The wonderful and interesting phenomenon 
of producing animal life by machinery, presents 
a sight truly curious, beautiful, and interesting. 
We were informed that the chickens come forth 
from this machine strong, active, and healthy. 

The warmth imparted by this apparatus, it is 
said, is uniform, continued, and so completely 
under control, that it does not, as is often the 
case with eggs when sat upon by the hen, ever 
addle them. 

On one side of the machine a large box, the 
same length as the machine, four feet wide, 
with one side off, was placed close up, in which 
the chickens were put twenty or twenty-four 
hours after they were hatched. Arched holes 
were open at the bottom of the apparatus, through 
which the chickens passed to and fro to warm 
themselves, and did not seem to require or feel 
the loss of their maternal parent. They are 
constantly busy, either running about their 
apartment, or scratching the sand with their 
feet, and picking up the smallest particle of 
food which they discover. It would seem that 
there is no difficulty in teaching them to eat 
and drink; for they appear to perform these 
operations spontaneously, or from observation, 
as they are prompted by hunger. 

Our interest was greatly increased and much 
excited on noticing with what certainty they 
would recognize the footsteps of the person who 
feeds and attends them. When he crosses the 
room to get their food, they would huddle to 
one side of the box and then to the other, and 



apparently listen for his return. When he 
scratched on the bottom or side of the box they 
would rush there with great rapidity. 

Beautiful as a brood of chickens always are 
under any circumstances, the interest excited 
is greatly increased by the artificial system of 
hatching and rearing. 

M. Reaumur, in the course of his very inter- 
esting experiments, tried several plans for the 
substitution of what he aptly denominated an 
artificial mother. By bringing the chickens up 
in a hot-bed, indeed, it would be easy to make 
them enjoy a perpetual summer, exempt from 
all exposure to rain or to cold nights. For the 
first fortnight or three weeks, they may be ad- 
vantageously reared in the oven where they 
have been hatched, taking them out five or six 
times a day to give them food and water ; but 
this is much more troublesome than there is any 
occasion for, and some of the ingenious devices 
of Reaumur or Bonnemain may be adopted. 




KEAUMUE S ARTIFICIAL MOTUEII. 

The former says: "My apparatus did not at 
first appear to be sufficiently perfect, because, 
though the chickens were kept in warm air, 
they had no equivalent for the gentle pressure 
of the belly of the mother upon their backs, 
when she sits over them. Their back is, in fact, 
necessarily more warmed than the other parts 



INCUBATION. 



183 



of the body, while huddling together under their 
mother's wings ; whereas their belly often rests 
the while on the cold moist earth — the very re- 
verse of what took place in my apparatus, in 
which the feet were the best warmed. The 
chickens themselves indicated that they were 
more in want of having their backs warmed than 
any other part of their body ; for, after all of 
them had repaired to the warmest end of the 
apparatus, instead of squatting, as they naturally 
do when they rest, they remained motionless, 
standing bolt upright upon their legs, with their 
backs turned toward the sides or end of the 
apartment, in order to procure the necessary 
warmth. I therefore judged that they wanted 
an apparatus which might, by resting on them, 
determine them to take the same attitude as 
they naturally assume under hens, and I con- 
trived an inanimate mother that might supply, 
in this respect, the want of a living one." 

The apparatus contrived by M.Reaumur upon 
these principles, consisted of a box lined with 
sheep-skin, having the wool on it, the bottom 
of the box being of a square form, and the tip- 
per part of it sloped precisely like a writing- 
desk. The box thus constructed was placed at 
the end of a coop, or cage, shut in with a grat- 
ing of osier, net, or wire, and closed above with 
a hinged lid, the whole being so formed that 
the chickens could walk round the sides, as 
shown in the previous engraving. 

The desk-like slanting direction of the cov- 
ering permitted the chickens to arrange them- 
selves according to their several sizes ; but as 
they have, like all young birds, the habit of 
pressing very closely together, and even of 
climbing upon one another, the small and the 
weaker being therefore in danger of being 
crushed or smothered, M. Reaumur constructed 
his artificial mother open at both ends, or, at 
most, with only a loose netting hanging over it. 
Through that the weakest chicken could escape 
if it chanced to feel itself too much squeezed ; 
and then, by going round to the other open- 
ing, it might find a less inconvenient neighbor- 
hood. 

One improvement upon this consists in keep- 
ing the covers sloped so low as to prevent the 
chickens from climbing on the backs of each 



other, and raising it as they increase in growth. 
Another consists in dividing the larger coops 
into two, by means of a transverse partition, so 
as to separate the chickens of different sizes. 

" The chickens," says M. Reaumur, " soon 
showed me how much they felt the convenience 
of my artificial mother, by their fondness for 
remaining under it and pressing it closely. As 
soon as they had taken their little meals, they 
were seen jumping and capering about ; and 
when they began to be weary, they crowded to 
this mother, going so far in that they were com- 
pelled to squat, as I perceived by the impression 
of the backs of several chickens on the woolly 
linings when the cover was turned up. No nat- 
ural mother, indeed, can be so good for the 
chickens as the artificial one, and they are not 
long in discovering this — instinct being a quick 
and sure director. Chickens, indeed, direct 
from the hatching oven, from twelve to twenty 
hours after their escape from the shell, will be- 
gin to pick up small grains or crumbs of bread ; 
and, after having eaten and walked about a lit- 
tle, they soon find their way to the fleecy lodge, 
where they can rest and warm themselves, re- 
maining till hunger puts them again in motion. 
They all betake themselves to the artificial moth- 
er at night, and leave it exactly at daybreak, 
or when a lamp is brought into the place, so as 
to produce an artificial daybreak, with which, 
it is worthy of remark, old hens are not affected, 
but remain immovable on their roosts." 

M. Bonnemain put the chickens hatched by 
his apparatus in a place where four pipes, fixed 
under boards, were made to run along at equal 
distances, a very little above the level of the 
ground. These pipes were filled with hot wa- 
ter, and had loose flannels attached to them, 
loaded with a light weight, so as to furnish for 
the chickens a soft body for warming chiefly 
their backs. 

In one or other of the houses thus warmed 
with hot water, M. Bonnemain's chickens were 
permitted to run about or rest at pleasure ; while 
in order to keep them clean, the floor is covered 
with a layer of fine gravel, which soaks up the 
dung, and is swept away every day. The arti- 
ficial mothers are cleaned, the skins beat, the 
wool combed, the chickens which mftv be dirty 



184 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



washed in warm water, and the walls white- 
washed with lime or lined with mats. 

Efficient ventilation is, above all, necessary 
for renewing the air; and for this purpose the 
pipe of the stove may be led into a kind of chim- 
ney, the lower opening of which, beginning on 
a level with the ceiling of the room, will present 
a good exit to the air it contains, while the fresh 
air from without may be duly warmed on its 
entrance, by bringing it through the reservoir 
in the stove. 

Adjoining the place thus heated artificially, 
a little piece of ground should be appropriated 
for the chickens to go into occasionally, to ac- 
custom them to the natural air, till, when about 
six weeks old or more, they can do without ar- 
tificial heat and shelter. 

The following artificial mother is recommend- 
ed by Mr. Young, under which, he says, five 
broods may be reared at the same time. This 
mother may be framed of a board, ten inches 
broad and fifteen inches long, resting on two 
legs in front, two inches in height, and on two 
props behind, two inches also in height. The 
board must be perforated with many small gim- 
let holes for the escape of heated air, and lined 
with lamb's skin, dressed with the wool on, and 
the woolly side so as to come in contact with 
the chickens. Over three of these mothers, a 
wicker basket is to be placed, for the protection 
of the chickens, four feet long, two feet broad, 
and fourteen inches high, with a lid open, a 
wooden sliding-bottom to draw out for clean- 
ing, and a long narrow trough along the front, 
resting on two very low stools, for holding the 
food. Perches are to be fixed on the basket, 
for the more advanced to roost on. A flannel 
curtain is to be placed in front at both ends of 
the mothers, for the chickens to run under, from 
which they soon learn to push outward and in- 
ward. These mothers, with the wicker basket 
over them, are to be placed against a hot wall 
at the back of the kitchen fire, or any other warm 
situation where the heat shall not exceed 80° 
of Fahrenheit. When the chickens are a week 
old, they are to be carried with the mother to a 
grass-plot for feeding, and kept warm by a tin 
tube filled with hot water, which will continue 
sufficiently warm for about three hours, when 



it is to be removed. Toward the evening, the 
mothers are to be again placed against the hot 
wall. 

The apparatus latterly employed for the pur- 
pose of incubation has been described under the 
names of Eccaleobion, Potolokian, and Hydro-In- 
cubator. The former was an ingenious con- 
trivance for hatching chickens by heated air. 
According to Mr. Bucknell, the English invent- 
or and proprietor of this machine, which attract- 
ed, some years ago, great attention, the Ec- 
caleobion possessed a perfect and absolute com- 
mand over temperature from 300° Fahrenheit, 
to that of cold water, so that any substance sub- 
mitted to its influence was uniformly acted iipon 
over its whole surface at any requisite interme- 
diate degree within the above range, and such 
heat maintained unaltered without trouble or 
difficulty for any length of time. Hence, by 
means of this absolute and complete command 
over the temperature obtained by this machine, 
the impregnated egg of any bird, not stale, 
placed within its influence, at the proper degree 
of warmth, at the expiration of its natural time 
was elicited into life without the possibility of a 
failure, M'hich is sometimes the case with eggs 
subjected to the caprice of their natural parent. 
During the public exhibition of this instrument 
thirty or forty thousand chickens, perhaps more, 
were stated to have been brought into existence 
by a single machine, which was constructed to 
contain two thousand eggs at a given time. The 
chickens, with proper attention and under suit- 
able treatment, were said to grow as healthy 
and strong as those under a parent's care. Of 
course, artificial mothers, warmth, a dry soil, 
and proper buildings, would be needed. "What 
might not be expected from a multiplication of 
these machines, or their formation on a large 
scale ! 

THE POTOLOKIAN. 

This was a similar contrivance for hatching 
eggs by means of heated air, established a few 
years since, on an extensive scale, in the city of 
Brooklyn, New York, by Mr. E. Bayer, who suc- 
ceeded admirably well, as far as the producing 
of chickens was concerned, in the process of 
hatching, at a loss of not over twenty to twenty- 



INCUBATION. 



185 



five per cent, of the eggs. The most congenial 
temperature at which the eggs were exposed 
during the process, he found to be 102° Fahren- 
heit. When uniformly kept in that degree of 
warmth, the period of incubation was gen- 
erally hastened two days. The chickens ar- 
rived at maturity six weeks earlier than those 
hatched in the natural way, but were more 
susceptible to the climate. Notwithstanding 
they were sweeter, better flavored, and more 
tender in their flesh, and commanded a higher 
price in market than other fowls, the business 
proved unprofitable, and was abandoned with 
disgust. 

MR. CANTELO'S HYDRO-INCUBATOR. 

Mr. Cantelo, a few years since, established in 
or near London, what he termed a "Model 
Poultry Farm." In this institution numbers of 
chickens, Guinea-fowls, and ducks have been 
raised by artificial heat most ingeniously ap- 
plied by "top-contact," so as to produce the 
same effect on the vitalized germ as the heat of 
the incubating hen. This heat has been proved 
by Mr. Cantelo to be as high as 106° Fahren- 
heit. The eggs were, in fact, hatched under 
artificial incubators, which allowed the inferior 
portion of the egg to remain cool until warmed 
by the inward circulation of the blood, as occurs 
in natural incubation, but not when eggs are 
placed in ovens or heated apartments. "The 
difference," says Mr. Cantelo, "between top- 
contact heat and that received by radiation as 
applied to hatching, is this : by radiation, or 
oven-heat, the eggs will be hours in arriving at 
the desired temperature, not only when first 
put to hatch, but any time afterward, when 
they may have been allowed to get cool. The 
eggs, of course, will heat alike over their whole 
surface, and consequently evaporate equally 
from every part. On the contrary, heat ap- 
plied in top-contact penetrates almost instantly 
and revivifies the germ, and although a much 
higher temperature is used in this case, in imi- 
tation of nature, that is, 106° instead of 98°, 
still, inasmuch as but a small surface is heated, 
the loss of moisture is much less than by a ra- 
diating heat. The fowl leaves her nest every 
day in search of food for twenty or thirty min- 



utes ; this must be imitated also, as the tempo- 
rary loss of heat has the effect of causing the 
contents of the egg to diminish in bulk, and 
the vacuum is filled by a fresh supply (of air) 
drawn in for the nourishment of the germ. The 
eggs must be moved three times a day, morn- 
ing, noon, and night, which prevents the adhe- 
sion of any part of the fluid to the shell, and 
gives the small blood-vessels better opportunity 
to spread around the surface of the egg. This 
is effected by nature; when the fowl leaves her 
nest or returns to it, she naturally disturbs the 
eggs, and also from any change she may make 
in her position while upon her nest." 

The machine itself is very simple ; it consists 
of a tank or cistern of water, which is heated by 
a peculiar stove, the heat of which is shown by 
thermometer. This water is heated to 109° 
Fahrenheit, and flows over a surface of vulcan- 
ized caoutchouc, the lower surface of which is in 
contact with a tray, or nest of eggs, and main- 
tains a heat of 106°. The tray is open at the 
sides, the bottom is made of wire gauze, lined 
with cotton cloth, and is raised or lowered by 
wedges ; thus merely presenting a small surface 
to the lower surface of the caoutchouc, which 
represents the breast of the parent fowl, and 
thus only a top-contact heat is communicated 
to the egg. Around the stove is a warm cham- 
ber, in which the chickens are put as soon as 
hatched, and where they remain about thirty- 
six hours before taking food; they are then 
placed under the hydro-mother, which consists 
of a series of pipes, kept at the same heat of 
106°, and under which the chickens nestle as 
under a real hen. 

There is now no farther trouble. During the 
first ten days the chickens feed themselves 
in the house, and are then only permitted to 
go out in the open air, returning at pleasure to 
the protection of the hydro-mother. At the 
end of six weeks they are put into a common 
roosting-house, and henceforth shift for them- 
selves. 

It has hitherto been believed that the blood- 
heat of the feathered tribe was the same as that 
of the human race, viz., 98°. Mr. Cantelo as- 
serts that it is 106°, and he considers this an 
overlooked fact. Another point is the manner 



186 



THE AMEEICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 




AMERICAN EGG-HATCHING MACHINE. 



in which this heat is conveyed to the egg to 
vivify it. This he clearly proves is only by 
contact on the top. The principle of vitality, 
he contends, floats in the egg, and is constantly 
on the top, thus presenting itself to the bird's 
breast, leaving the other part exposed to the 
ordinary heat of the surrounding atmosphere ; 
and as the blood-vessels form, the heat is con- 
ducted to every part of the egg. 

This hydro-incubator was in operation at 
Mr. Cantelo's Model Farm, where he had more 
than two thousand head of poultry running 
about, from one day to three months old. 

AMERICAN EGG-HATCHING MACHINE. 

A few years since an apparatus, figured above, 
for the purpose of hatching chickens by artificial 
heat, invented by Mr. L. G. Hoffman, of the city 
of Albany, was put in operation, and, as far as 
the hatching of chickens was concerned, proved 
equal to the task, producing from 70 to 75 chick- 
ens from every 100 eggs. 

Mr. Hoffman's machine was constructed of 
tin, with the hatching- chamber surrounded with 
water, heated and kept at a proper temperature 
by means of a lamp. 

The machine forms, to outward appearance, 
an oblong box or chest, about two and a half 
feet in length, and two feet in depth, and the 



same in width, and is stated to be capable of 
hatching from 200 to 400 chickens at a time. It 
stands upon a box, the top of which is warmed 
also with hot water, where the chickens are 
placed when removed from the hatching-cham- 
ber above. On the left of the machine is a 
small conical-shaped tank, or cistern of water, 
connected at top and bottom to the water sur- 
rounding the egg-chamber. By means of the 
connections at top and bottom, a constant cir- 
culation of the water is kept up. The cistern 
of water, on the left, is heated by a spirit- 
lamp, the heat passing up into the dark-colored 
cone, reaching to near the top of the water- 
cistern. 

The slanting, or desk-like board, represented 
by a white mark near the bottom of the under 
case, is lined with sheep-skin, dressed with the 
wool on, raised or lowered by means of a small 
cord to accommodate the size of chickens, and 
by this means they can arrange themselves ac- 
cording to their several sizes. This is called 
the artificial mother. 

MINASl'S INCUBATOR. 

We notice in an English paper, that quite an 
improvement on the old plans of chicken-hatch- 
ing has been quite recently made by a Mr. Mi- 
nasi, requiring much less attention to the ma- 



INCUBATION. 



187 



chine, during the process of incubation, than 
formerly. This was the great objection to all 
previously constructed hatching-machines. It 
may now go three days without attention ; for- 
merly it could scarcely be left three hours. 

This new machine is a very simple contriv- 
ance, and can, consequently, be constructed at 
about one-fourth of the expense formerly re- 
quired. The practical results are equally sat- 
isfactory, for he states that the average number 
of birds produced is 80 out of every 100 eggs. 
The necessary heat is obtained from a naptha 
lamp, without a wick, which is so arranged that 
it may be left to itself for two or three days to- 
gether, and yet the process of hatching goes on 
with due regularity and certainty. 

The eggs are placed on a series of tubes, 
through which a stream of hot water is, by 
means of the naptha lamp, kept constantly 
flowing; and when the chicken comes out of 
the shell, it is placed beneath the same tubes, 
which now perform the second duty of the arti- 
ficial parent. After being kept there the pro- 
per time, it is removed to a compartment more 
suited to its increasing strength, and is ulti- 
mately placed in a pen in the open air. 

The naptha consumed, during the three weeks 
of incubation, about one gallon, which may be 
purchased at 78 cents per gallon. 

A SCIENTIFIC HATCHING MACHINE. 

A hatching machine has been invented in 
France, by M. Vallee, which is described by the 
Paris Correspondent of the Intelligence?: A 
drum, inclosing a warming cylinder, forms the 
basis of his system. He introduces air into the 
drum in which the eggs are deposited, and by 



circular openings, gives access to currents of 
cold air. It is by the distribution and vigorous- 
ly rational combination of warm and cold air 
that he obtains that dampish temperature in 
which lies the secret of incubation, from which 
results the development of the embryo in the 
egg. By this instrument artificial hatching is 
necessarily carried on in every state of the at- 
mosphere, and at all seasons. But after the 
burst of the shell, a mother must be provided 
for the young. M. Vallee's ingenuity thus pro- 
vides for this emergency. A lamb-skin is fas- 
tened by one extremity to a plank, and made 
to open at the other end like a pair of bellows. 
This affords a cover for the little ones, and 
keeps them as warm as would a veritable moth- 
er hen. The result of M. Vallee's experience, 
touching the period of incubation necessary for 
the various species of eggs, is curious, and wor- 
thy of record. Here it is: Chickens, 21 days : ; 
partridges, 24 days; pheasants, 25 days ; Guinea- 
hen, 25 days; common duck, 28 days; peafowl, 
28 days ; Barbary ducks, 30 days; geese, 30 days. 
The degree of heat required is from 104° to 122° 
Fahrenheit. A small lamp of the Locatelli sys- 
tem suffices to raise the temperature of the ap- 
paratus to the proper elevation. With such a 
machine every farmer could have a fine supply 
of fowls. 

Notwithstanding the ease and certainty in 
which birds can be hatched with artificial heat, 
somehow or other they do not seem to be re- 
garded with favor. Let us be content, then, 
with our feathered tenants of the poultry-yards 
as they are, and be grateful to a kind Provi- 
dence for the fowls we have, which are pension- 
ers on our bountv. 



188 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



CHAPTER IX. 

FATTENING POULTRY. 



In this branch of the business, the fattening 
of fowls for market, the author must confess 
his ignorance, as he has had no experience far- 
ther than the general run of the yard, and plen- 
ty of the best food kept constantly within their 
reach. The markets of Philadelphia are noted 
for large and fat fowls, and we have endeavored 
to obtain from some of the feeders in that vi- 
cinity information on the subject, but without 
success. We will, however, give the experi- 
ence of some who have paid attention to it, 
and avail ourselves of such information as we 
can glean from books and the agricultural jour- 
nals. 

The well-known common methods are to give 
fowls the run of the farm-yard, where they 
thrive upon the offals of the stable and other 
refuse, with perhaps small regular daily feeds ; 
but at threshing time they become fat — thence 
called barn-door fowls, probably the most deli- 
cate and high-flavored of all others, both from 
their full allowance of the best corn, and the 
constant health in which they are kept by liv- 
ing in the more natural state, and having the 
full enjoyment of air and exercise. Economy 
and market interest may, perhaps, be best an- 
swered by confining them in a dark place, but 
a feeder for his own table, of delicate and re- 
fined taste, and ambitious of furnishing his ta- 
ble with the choicest and most salubrious vi- 
ands, will declare for the more natural mode 
of feeding ; and in that view, a feeding-yard 
turfed with grass, and a room open all day for 
the fowls to retire at pleasure, will have a de- 
cided preference as the nearest approach to the 
barn-yard system. 

It is a common practice with some to coop 
their fowls for a week or two, under the notion 



of improving them for the table and increas- 
ing their fat ; a practice which, however, seldom 
succeeds, since the fowls generally pine for the 
loss of their liberty, and, slighting their food, 
lose instead of gaining additional flesh. Such 
a period, in fact, seems too short for them to 
become accustomed to confinement. 

To feed poultry requires both judgment and 
constant attention : and since these are far 
from being general attainments in the class of 
persons selected for this office, hence the un- 
satisfactory state, both for themselves and their 
owners, from what has been so inappropriate- 
ly named the fattening coop. Without these 
requisites, the bird — be it of whatever race it 
may — is far more likely to lose than to gain 
flesh. A well -ventilated out-house, with a 
moderate but even temperature, is most suita- 
ble ; and a cloth hung up in front of the coop, 
during intervals of feeding, induces beneficial 
repose. 

So much has been said by different writers 
about the kind of food, that it is hardly neces- 
sary to repeat. Most families that keep no 
other animals will get together scraps enough 
to give four or six fowls one meal a day ; if, in 
addition, they have one feed of boiled potatoes 
and one of corn, they will do very well as far 
as it goes. 

The manner of fattening poultry would seem 
to be extremely plain. One might think that 
it was sufficient to feed them at regular hours , 
with wholesome and abundant food, capable of 
satisfying them. This mode would, indeed, be 
very healthful for them ; it would increase 
their size and strength ; it would procure them 
an uncommon share of good health ; but to ac- 
complish the desired end, it is wished to give 



FATTENING POULTRY. 



ISO 



them an extraordinary plumpness, to fat them, 
not for their own, but for our advantage. 

Each different plan has its peculiar advant- 
ages ; among others, that of leaving poultry to 
forage and shift for themselves ; hut where a 
steady and regular profit is required from them, 
the best method, whether for domestic use or 
for sale, is constant high keep from the begin- 
ning, whence they will not only be always 
ready for the table, with very little extra at- 
tention, but their flesh will be superior in jui- 
ciness and rich flavor to those which are fat- 
ted from a low and emaciated state. Fed in 
this mode, the spring pullets are particularly 
fine, at the same time most nourishing and re- 
storative food. 

It takes several weeks to fatten fowls con- 
fined in coops. All old writers on this subject 
recommend cooping or penning them, and feed- 
ing them with bread steeped in ale, wine, or 
milk ; barley-flour mixed with milk, and season- 
ed with mustard or anise seeds ; and some rec- 
ommend cramming them three or four times a 
day. They also recommend keeping them in 
a dark place, and not allowing them any exer- 
cise. 

" To fatten poultry," says Bradley, " the best 
way and quickest is to put them into coops as 
usual, and feed them with barley meal ; but, in 
particular, to put a small quantity of brick-dust 
in their water, which they should never be with- 
out. This last will give them an appetite for 
their meat, and fatten them very soon." He 
thinks the brick-dust acts as gravel, as it is so 
universally supposed to do, in bruising the food 
in the gizzard. 

In an extensive establishment near Liverpool, 
Mr. Wakefield fattened with steamed or baked 
potatoes, given warm, which is indispensable, 
three or four times a day. The fowls were tak- 
en in good condition from the yard, confined 
in dry, well-ventilated coops, and covered in, 
so as to prevent the entrance of too much light. 
'■ This method was attended with the greatest 
success. 

Paine Windgate, in the Maine Farmer, says 
his experience tells him that the following pro- 
cess is the best mode of fattening hens. Shut 
them up where they can get no gravel. Keep 



corn by them all the time, and also give them 
dough enough once a day. For drink, give 
them skimmed milk. With this feed they will 
fatten in ten days. If they are kept over ten 
days, they should have some gravel, or they will 
fall away. 

A writer in one of our agricultural papers 
recommends the following: Oats ground into 
meal and mixed with a little molasses and wa- 
ter, barley-meal with sweet milk, and boiled 
oats mixed with meat, are all excellent for fat- 
tening poultry, reference being had to time, ex- 
pense, and quality of flesh. 

Corn, before being fed to fowls, should al- 
ways be crushed and soaked in water, or boiled. 
It will digest easier, and go much farther. 
Parched corn or oats is a kind of food poultry 
are very fond of, and an occasional change of 
food is found by experience and observation to 
be highly important in promoting the thrift of 
all kinds of domestic animals. Keep your fowls 
dry and clean, give them good lodging, provide 
them with some dry sand, ashes, or old lime- 
mortar to dust themselves in, and give them a 
plentiful supply of food, a portion of which 
should be animal, and if fat all the better, and 
you will not have to complain for their not 
thriving. 

The food is a matter of much variety, as va- 
rious articles are used for the purpose of fatten- 
ing fowls. When fattening, care should be tak- 
en not to feed them on fish, as it would give 
them a bad flavor. In some parts of England 
and France, oil, lard, and other grease is ex- 
tensively used, mixed with barley-meal, oat- 
meal, and other ground food. Arthur Young 
says, feed on coarse barley-meal steamed until 
quite soft ; steamed potatoes minced quite small, 
and coarse wheaten flour; ground oats made 
into gruel, mixed with hog's grease, sugar, pot- 
liquor, and milk ; or ground oats, molasses, 
suet, sheep's plucks, etc. These precious mix- 
tures are said to fatten them, in a fortnight, to 
the weight of seven pounds ; but there are in- 
stances of individuals attaining ten or eleven 
pounds. 

Feeding-houses, at once warm and airy, with 
earth floors, well-raised, and capacious enough 
to accommodate twenty or thirty fowls, have 



190 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



always succeeded best, according to our experi- 
ence. The floor may be slightly littered down, 
the litter often changed, and the greatest clean- 
liness should be observed. Sandy gravel should 
be placed in several different layers, and often 
changed. A sufficient number of troughs, for 
the water and food, should be placed around, 
that the stock may feed with as little interrup- 
tion as possible from each other, and perches in 
the same proportion should be furnished for 
those birds which are inclined to perch, which 
few of them will desire, after they have begun 
to fatten, but which helps to keep them easy 
and contented until that period. In this mode, 
fowls may be fattened to the highest pitch, and 
yet preserved in a healthy state, their flesh be- 
ing equal in quality to that of the barn-door fowl. 

It has always been a favorite maxim among 
feeders, that the privation of light, by inclining 
fowls to a constant state of repose, excepting 
when moved by the appetite for food, promotes 
and accelerates obesity. It may probably be so, 
although not promotive of health ; but as it is 
no question that a state of obesity obtained in 
this way can not be a state of health, a real 
question arises — whether the flesh of animals 
so fed can equal in flavor, nutriment, and solu- 
bility that of the same species fed in a natural 
way? 

Insects and animal food also form a part of 
the natural diet of poultry, are medicinal to 
them in a weakly state, and the want of such 
food may sometimes impede their thriving. 

The London chicken butchers, as they are 
termed, are said to be, of all others, the most 



dexterous and expeditious feeders, putting up a 
coop of fowls and making them thoroughly fat 
within the space of a fortnight, using much 
grease, and that, perhaps, not of the most deli- 
cate kind, in the food. "In this way," says 
Mowbray, "I have no boast to make, having 
always found it necessary to allow a consider- 
able number of weeks for the purpose of making 
fowls fat in coops. In the common way, this 
business is often badly managed, fowls being 
huddled together in a small coop, tearing each 
other to pieces, instead of enjoying that repose 
which alone can insure the wished-for object; 
irregularly fed and cleaned, until they are so 
stenched and poisoned in their own excrement, 
that their flesh actually smells and tastes of it 
when smoking upon the table." 

Another plan is to confine them in a dark 
place and cram them with a paste made of bar- 
ley-meal, mutton suet, molasses, or coarse su- 
gar, pot-liquor, and milk ; and they are found 
completely fat in two weeks. It is, however, 
really a barbarous and filthy practice, and, thank 
Heaven, in this country we have no overgrown 
epicures to demand or render the practice prof- 
itable, supposing it attainable. 

To conclude : as barn-door fowls are consid- 
ered superior in flavor to all others, the nearest 
approach to this manner of fattening we con- 
sider the best. The plan of confining a week 
or two, for the purpose of giving them extra 
food, does not improve them. The first week 
or two they pine and lose flesh. Five or six, 
weeks are necessary in this way to make them 
fat. 



KILLING AND PREPARING POULTRY FOR MARKET. 



191 



CHAPTER X. 

KILLING AND PREPARING POULTRY FOR MARKET. 



If you wish to prepare your poultry in the 
nicest manner for the market, so that it will in- 
variably secure the best price, observe the fol- 
lowing rules, viz. : First, fat them well, and al- 
low them to remain in the pens twenty-four 
hours without food previous to being killed. 
Then, when you kill them, instead of wringing 
their necks, cut their heads off at a single blow 
with a sharp ax or cleaver, and then hang them 
up by their legs and allow them to bleed freely, 
and pick them immediately, while warm. Some, 
however, prefer to run a small pen-knife into 
the jugular-vein by the side of the neck, just 
under the joles. In this case, let the heads re- 
main on. In picking, great care should be taken 
not to tear the skin; the wings should not be 
cut off, but picked to the end. If the head 
should be cut off, the skin of the neck should 
be neatly tied over the end. Most persons like 
to see the heads of fowls left on ; it makes a 
better show. The heads of ducks and geese 
should always be cut off. No cut should be 
made in the breast ; all the offal should be taken 
out behind, and the opening should be made as 
small as possible. 

Some persons send their poultry to market 
with their intestines in. This, to say the least, 
is a dirty, slovenly practice, doing great injury 
to the flesh, as it partakes of the flavor of the 
excrements when suffered long to remain un- 
dressed, and is otherwise impaired from the 
stagnant blood. After removing the intestines, 
wipe out the blood with a dry cloth, but no wa- 
ter should be used to cleanse them. With a 
moist cloth take off the blood that may be found 
upon the carcass, and hang them in a cool, dry 
room until ready to carry to market, or other- 
wise to be used. Do not remove the gizzard 



from its place; but, if the fowl be very fat, 
make a larger hole, turn the leaves out, and 
fasten them with a small skewer. When pre- 
pared in this way, your poultry will be much 
nicer, and entitled to a better price than when 
butchered and dressed in the ordinary way. 

We have often noticed the careless, slovenly 
manner, and little attention paid to external 
appearance of poultry offered for sale in our 
markets ; and we have noticed the quick sale 
and higher price when due regard was paid to 
have the skin all sound and clean ; the breast 
not mutilated by a long cut, the shrinking skin 
exposing the drying meat covered with hay- 
seed or chaff, but well covered all over with fat, 
of a rich golden yellow. Much of the poultry 
exposed for sale has been through the process 
of scalding to facilitate picking; this practice 
should never be resorted to. It turns the rich 
yellow of the fat into a tallowy hue, and often- 
times starts the skin, so that it peels off unless 
very carefully handled. 

Much care and attention is required after the 
poultry is dressed and cool. It should be care- 
fully packed in baskets or boxes, and, above all, 
it should be kept from the frost. A friend 
who was very nice in these matters, used to 
bring his turkeys to market in the finest order 
possible, and always obtained a ready sale and 
the highest price. His method was to pick 
them dry, while warm, and dress them in the 
neatest manner; then take a long, deep, nar- 
row, tight box, with a stick running from end 
to end of the box, and hang the turkeys by the 
legs over the stick, which prevents bruising or 
disfiguring them in the least. 

Too much should not be exposed at a time 
for sale, nor should they be hauled over too oft- 



192 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



en. Appearance is every thing with poultry, as 
well as other articles, and has great influence 
on the purchaser. 

AGE OF POULTRY. 

Farmers usually sell poultry alive. Poulter- 
ers in towns, on the other hand, kill and pluck 
every sort of fowl for sale, so that the purchas- 
er has it in his power to judge of the carcass ; 
and if he huys an inferior article at a high price 
it must be his own fault. It is easy to judge of a 
plucked fowl, whether old or young, by the state 
of the legs. If a hen's spur is hard, and the scales 
on the legs rough, she is old, whether you see her 
head or not ; but the head will corroborate your 
observation, if the under bill is so stiff that you 
can not bend it down, and the comb thick and 
rough. A young hen has only the rudiments 
of spurs, the scales on the legs smooth, glossy, 
and fresh colored, whatever the color may be, 



the claws tender and short, the under bill soft, 
and the comb thin and smooth. An old hen 
turkey has rough scales on the legs, callosities 
on the soles of the feet, and long, strong claws ; 
a young one, the reverse of all these marks. 
A young goose or duck is distinguished by 
the tenderness of the skin under the wings, the 
strength of the joints of the legs, and the coarse- 
ness of the skin. 

TO PRESERVE POULTRY IN WINTER. 

" About the 15th of November," said the late 
Judge Buel, "I purchased a quantity of poultry 
for winter use. The insides were carefully 
drawn, their place partially filled with charcoal, 
and the poultry hung in an airy loft. It was 
used through the winter, till about the first of 
February, and although some were kept seventy 
days, none of it was the least affected with must 
or taint, the charcoal having kept it sweet." 



'C^i, 




DISEASES OF POULTRY. 



193 



CHAPTER XL 



DISEASES OF POULTRY. 



In this climate the diseases of our poultry 
are few in number, and are generally controlled 
by proper treatment. On this point, it is said, 
with truth too, that " prevention is better than 
cure ;" and when the former can not be alto- 
gether secured, the latter must be attended to 
immediately, or all attempts at a cure will prove 
fruitless. Although poultry are no less liable 
to disorders than cattle or other tame animals, 
but very little attention has been paid to them, 
owing, no doubt, to the small value of individ- 
ual fowls compared with sheep or horses ; and 
it is frequently most economical to kill them at 
once. These disorders, however, though few 
in number, are far from being devoid of inter- 
est, not only as sometimes leading to correct 
views of the diseases of other animals, but so 
far as the saving of even a few shillings, by 
curing them when that is possible, or of render- 
ing their eggs or flesh more wholesome and pal- 
atable, as well as the humane motive of add- 
ing comfort to the creatures intrusted to our 
care. 

When disease seizes an individual, it should 
be removed from the others as soon as discov- 
ered, and put by itself, or it may spread over 
the whole flock. Under proper management, 
Nature is a prudent guardian to fowls in health, 
a kind nurse to them in weakness, and the 
most skillful physician in disease. With her 
man should do no more than co-operate ; and 
this we can do most effectually by adopting ev- 
ery proper means, by accommodation and diet, 
to preserve them in a proper state of health. 

It is with truth said, that " the diseases of 
our domestic animals kept for food are gener- 
ally the result of some error in the diet or man- 
agement, and should cither have been prevent- 
N 



ed or cured more readily and advantageously 
by an immediate change or adoption of the 
proper regimen. When that will not succeed, 
any farther risk is extremely questionable ; and 
particularly with respect to poultry, little hope 
can be derived from medical attempts." 

APOPLEXY. 

This disease is very frequent among fowls, 
and makes its attack, in most instances, with- 
out the slightest warning. M. Flourens, of 
Paris, says there are two degrees of apoplexy 
among fowls — one deep-seated and the other 
superlicial — each having different symptoms. 
Deep-seated apoplexy is characterized by com- 
plete disorder of movement, while superficial 
apoplexy is manifested only by deficient mus- 
cular energy and inability in walking. Deep- 
seated apoplexy is accompanied by superficial 
apoplexy ; but as the latter is the precursor of 
the former, it ought to be carefully attended to, 
in order to prevent its passing to what may be 
termed the second stage, though both stages 
are capable of being cured by a natural process, 
as an individual case proves. 

M. Flourens had brought to him, in the 
month of April, a young fowl, whose gait indi- 
cated that of a tipsy animal so much, that the 
peasants called it the " tipsy hen." Whether 
standing, or walking, or running, it reeled and 
staggered, advancing always in a zigzag man- 
ner, frequently turning to the right when it 
wished to turn to the left, and to the left when 
it wished to turn to the right, and instead of 
going forward it went backward. Its logs :ilso 
often bent under it, so that it fell down ; above 
all, when it flew high up to perch, it could not 
govern nor regulate its movements, but fell and 



194 



THE AMERICAN POULTERERS COMPANION. 



rolled about on the ground a long while without 
being able to get upon its legs or recover its 
balance. These movements so nearly resem- 
bled those which had been produced by experi- 
ment, that M. Flourens was impatient to exam- 
ine the brain. He found the bone of the skull 
to be covered with black carious points. On 
penetrating the dura mater, a quantity of clear 
water ran out, while the cerebellum was yellow- 
ish, rust-colored streaks on the surface, and in 
the centre was a mass of purulent coagulated 
matter as large as a horse-bean, contained in a 
cavity perfectly isolated, and having its sides 
very thin and smooth. 

Symptoms. — The symptoms of apoplexy are 
plain and decisive. A fowl, apparently in the 
most robust health, falls down suddenly, and is 
found either dead, or without sensation or the 
power of motion. These symptoms are occa- 
sioned by the rupture of a small vessel (usually 
at the base of the brain), and the consequent 
effusion of blood, which, by its pressure, pro- 
duces the evil. 

Causes. — Apoplexy is almost invariably caused 
by a full habit of body ; it is therefore frequent 
in overfed birds, and is most common among 
laying hens, which are sometimes found dead 
on the nest — the expulsive efforts required in 
laying being the immediate cause of the at- 
tack. Unnatural and overstimulating food, as 
greaves, hemp-seed, and a large proportion of 
pea or corn meal, greatly predisposes to the 
disease. 

This disorder is termed by some epilepsy, me- 
grims, or giddiness. Many promising chickens 
are lost by this complaint. Without any kind 
of warning, they fall, roll on their backs, and 
struggle for a minute or two, when they rise, 
stupid and giddy, and slowly return to their 
food. One fit having occurred, is quickly fol- 
lowed by others, each more violent than the 
preceding, until at length the little animal stag- 
gers about, half unconscious, refusing to eat, 
rapidly wasting, and soon dies convulsed. In 
some cases it occurs when the fowl is poor and 
half-starved ; but then the food has been im- 
proper; it has been watery or disposed to fer- 
mentation ; diarrhea has followed, and the fits 
are the consequence of intestinal irritation. 



Other young fowls will have occasional fits, 
from which, however, they in most cases rapidly 
recover, and appear to be little or nothing the 
worse for them. 

Treatment. — In this disease much may be 
done in the way of prevention — little toward a 
cure in an actual attack ; the only hope consists 
in an instant and copious bleeding. It has been 
said that bleeding is out of the question ; for how 
is a bird to be bled, and where ? We would re- 
ply, it is not out of the question ; for we have 
saved the lives of several birds by its prompt 
employment. And as to the mode of operating, 
it is the same as in other animals — simply open- 
ing a vein with a sharp-pointed pen-knife, or, 
still better, a lancet. The largest of the veins 
seen on the under side of the wing should be se- 
lected, and opened in a longitudinal direction, 
not cut across ; and so long as the thumb is 
pressed on the vein, at any point between the 
opening and the body, the blood will be found 
to flow freely. If the bird recovers after the 
operation, it should be kept quiet, and on light 
and scanty food, and the affected fowl should 
be confined in a rather dark coop, and kept 
warm. 



Symptoms. — Fowls affected with this disease 
may be observed to run round in a circle, or to 
flutter about with but partial control over their 
muscular actions. 

Cause. — The affection is one evidently caused 
by an undue determination of blood to the head, 
and is dependent on a full-blooded state of the 
system. 

Treatment. — We have always found that hold- 
ing the head under a stream of cold water for 
a short time immediately ai-rested the disease ; 
and a dose of any aperient, such as calomel, jal- 
ap, or castor-oil, removes the tendency to tlit 
complaint. 



Symptoms. — An inability to move some of 
the limbs. In fowls the legs are usually affect- 
ed, and are totally destitute of the power of 
motion. 

Causes. — Paralysis usually depends on somo 



DISEASES OF POULTRY. 



1 91 



affection of the spinal cord, and is another re- 
sult of overstimulating diet. 

Treatment. — Nothing can be done by way of 
cure ; the case may be regarded as hopeless or 
nearly so. 



Symptoms. — The symptoms of catarrh in fowls 
are identical with those so familiar in the human 
subject — namely, a watery or sticky discharge 
from the nostrils, and a slight swelling of the 
eyelids ; in worse cases the face is swollen at 
the sides, and the disease has the appearance, 
or seems to run on to true roup. 

Causes. — Exposure to cold and dampness, 
such as a long continuance of cold wet weath- 
er, or roosting in places which are open to the 
north or west. 

Treatment. — In simple cases, removal to a dry, 
warm situation, and a supply of food rather 
more nutritious and stimulating than usual, 
soon effect a cure. We have found a little 
mashed boiled potatoes, well dusted with black 
pepper, very advantageous. In severe cases, 
the disease so closely resembles roup that it 
may be treated in the same manner. 



Of all diseases, real or presumed, to which 
onr domestic fowls are subjected, the most fre- 
quent is the gapes, sometimes called pip. It is 
a very common and troublesome disorder, and 
often proves fatal. All domestic birds, partic- 
ularly young fowls, are peculiarly liable to it, 
and generally in the hot weather of July and 
August. By some it is considered a catarrhal 
disease, similar to the influenza in human be- 
ings, producing a thickened state of the jnem- 
brane lining the nostrils, mouth, and tongue. 

Causes. — This disease is supposed to be pro- 
duced from filthy, sour diet, and drinking from 
dirty puddle water, infected with putrid decay- 
ing substances, ill-ventilated fowl-house con- 
finement, or a spot of ground tenanted year 
after year by fowls, without attention to clean- 
liness, to renovation of the soil, etc. At the 
same time, let it be borne in mind that the 
"gapes" is an epidemic disease. 

The gnpes is supposed by some to be caused 



by a sort of internal worm infesting the wind- • 
pipe ; but though this may have, in some in- 
stances, been observed, it is by no means uni- 
formly met with in all the disorders accompa- 
nied with gaping. 

Symptoms. — The name is sufficiently expres- 
sive as to the symptoms of this disease ; gaping, 
coughing, and sneezing, dullness, and inactivity, 
ruffled feathers, and loss of appetite. 

On the dissection of chickens dying with this 
disease, it will be found that the wind-pipe con- 
tains numerous small red worms about the size 
of a small cambric needle ; on the first glance 
they would likely be mistaken for blood-vessels. 
It is supposed that these worms continue to in- 
crease in size until the wind-pipe becomes com- 
pletely filled up, and the chicken suffocated. 
The disease first shows itself when the chicken 
is between three and four months old, and not 
generally after, by causing a sneezing or snuff- 
ing through the nostrils, and a frequent scratch- 
ing of itself at the roots of the bill. 

Treatment. — The plan formerly adopted, of 
giving remedies internally to remove the worms, 
is not a good one, as the medicine has to be ab- 
sorbed, pass into the blood, and act powerfully 
upon the body of the fowl, before its purpose 
can be accomplished ; its direct application to 
the worms is therefore preferable. This is 
readily secured by stripping the vane from a 
small quill feather, except half an inch from its 
extremity; this should then be dipped in spirits 
of turpentine; and, the chicken being securely 
held by an assistant, the feather so prepared is 
passed neatly down through the small opening 
of the wind-pipe, which is readily seen at the 
base of the tongue, and giving it one or two 
turns will generally bring up and destroy the 
worms. The turpentine at once kills the worms, 
and its application excites a fit of coughing, 
during which those that were left by the feather 
are expelled. This mode of application re- 
quires some dexterity, and at times the irrita- 
tion proves fatal. We therefore suggest the 
shutting up of the chicken in a box, with some 
shavings dipped in spirits of turpentine, when 
the vapor arising from the extended surface 
produces, in most cases, an equally beneficial 
result. Creosote, used in the same manner, 



196 



THE AMEEICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



lias been found most extraordinarily effica- 
cious. 

Prevention. — We know a person, a very large 
breeder of fowls, who always gives his chickens, 
at six weeks old, wheat steeped in turpentine. 
This is given them once in the morning, when 
fasting, and as a preventive against, instead of 
waiting for the arrival of, the gapes. Let their 
fh-st food be coarse corn meal, almost dry ; then 
give cracked com. As soon as they can swal- 
low whole grains, let them have them unbroken. 
All poultry-yards, of course, should be supplied 
with lime, and the chickens should have free 
access to pure water. After the gapes appear, 
the cure is always doubtful ; but crushed corn, 
soaked in very strong alum-water, is also a good 
remedy. 



This may be regarded as a token of derange- 
ment of the mucous membrane of the aliment- 
ary canal generally, and not as a local disease. 

Cause. — This disease is generally attributed 
to the want of water, or to bad water, such 
as the drainings of dung-hills, sinks, etc., which 
fowls will drink when they can get no other. 

Symptoms. — The occurrence of a dry, horny 
scale upon the tongue is generally regarded as 
characteristic of this disease, which, however, is 
by some confounded with gapes. We are quite 
assured that the dry, scaly tongue is only a symp- 
tom caused by some other disease, which forces 
the fowl (which habitually breathes through the 
nostrils) to respire through the mouth ; in this 
case the constant current of air dries the tongue, 
which becomes hard at the point, and assumes 
a very horny character. Thus, in any inflam- 
matory affection of the wind-pipe, in gapes, ca- 
tarrh, or roup, when the nostrils are closed by 
the discharge, the pip, as it is termed, makes its 
appearance. It should be regarded, however, 
as a symptom only, and not as the disease it- 
self. The beak becomes yellow at the base, 
the plumage becomes ruffled, the bird mopes 
and pines, the appetite gradually declines to 
extinction, and at last it dies, completely worn 
out by fever and starvation. * 

Treatment. — The treatment varies with the 
cause. In all cases the mouth should be fre- 



quently moistened ; and if the scale of hardened 
membrane is loose, it should be removed. The 
absurd plan of nipping off the end of the tongue 
in chickens is still practiced in some parts of the 
country ; it is almost needless to say, that it is 
alike useless and barbarous. 

A cure may be effected by a low diet ; that is, 
in the case of common fowls, by an allowance 
of fresh vegetable food, as onions or parsley 
chopped and mixed with potatoes and a little 
Indian or oatmeal, granting at the same time a 
plentiful supply of pure water. Give, also, a 
tea-spoonful of castor-oil or thereabouts, accord- 
ing to the age or strength of the fowl. Do not 
scrape the tongue, nor use rough modes of clean- 
ing it; but apply a little borax, dissolved in pure 
water, and tincture of myrrh, by means of a 
camel-hair brush, two or three times a day. 

The following has been recommended : Give 
three times a day, for two or three days, a piece 
of garlic, the size of a pea ; if garlic can not be 
obtained, onion, shallot, or chive will answer; 
and if neither of these be convenient, two grains 
of black pepper, to be given in fresh butter, may 
be substituted. 



There are no diseases to which poultry are 
subject, from which we have suffered more than 
from roup, catarrh, or swelled head, which we 
consider one and the same disease. The term 
roup is very indefinite, being applied to very dis- 
similar disorders of poultry, such as the obstruc- 
tion of the rump gland, the pip, and gapes, al- 
ready described, and to almost every sort of ca- 
tarrh, to which gallinaceous fowls are much sub- 
ject. But the chief disease to which chickens 
and fjpwls are liable, originates in changes of 
weather and variations of temperature ; and 
when the malady becomes confirmed, with run- 
ning at the nostrils and other well-known symp- 
toms, they are termed roupy. 

The word roup is supposed to be a corruption 
of croup, to which children are subject, and which 
often proves fatal. It affects fowls of all ages, 
and is either acute or chronic, beginning some- 
times suddenly and sometimes gradually, as the 
result of neglected colds, stormy weather, or 
damp lodgings. 



DISEASES OF POULTRY. 



197 



Symptoms. — The most prominent symptoms 
of roup are at first identical with those of se- 
vere catarrh ; as difficult and noisy breathing, 
a cough, a kind of rattling in the throat, begin- 
ning with what is termed gapes. There is con- 
siderable discharge from the nostrils of feted 
matter, like the glanders in horses ; at first thin 
and limpid, but soon loses its transparent char- 
acter, becoming more or less opaque, and of a 
very peculiar and offensive odor; froth ap- 
pears in the inner corner of the eye ; the lids 
swell, and in severe cases the eyeball is entirely 
concealed ; the nostrils are closed by the dis- 
charge drying around them, and the eyelids are 
agglutinated together; the diseased secretion 
accumulating within the sides of the face, fre- 
quently swell to an extreme degree, and the 
bird, unable to see or feed, suffers from great 
depression, afad sinks rapidlj-. 

As secondary symptoms, the appetite is all but 
gone, except for drink ; the crop feels hard to 
the touch, and the feathers are staring, ruffled, 
and without a healthy gloss. The fowl sits mop- 
ing and wasting in corners, always apparently 
in great pain. In this stage of the disease it is 
supposed to he infectious ; and whether so or 
not, it is certainly proper, for cleanliness' sake, 
if nothing else, to separate the diseased from the 
healthy ones, to prevent the disorder from spread- 
ing through the yard. 

As fowls habitually breathe through the nose, 
the mouth being kept closed, it follows that 
there is, even in the early stages, some difficulty 
of breathing, and a distension of the loose skin 
below the under-jaw may be often noticed. The 
frothy matter appearing at the corner of the eye, 
results from the same cause ; the air, stopped in 
its passage through the nose, passes up the tear- 
duct, and produces the appearance of bubbles. 

With respect to the communication of this 
disease, our experiments prove that it is exceed- 
ingly contagious. It is, we are inclined to think, 
frequently communicated by fowls drinking out 
of the same vessel, as the discharge from the 
nostrils of the sick bird contaminates the water 
as it drinks. 

Treatment. — In general, we should say, kill a 
roupy fowl at once, unless it is valuable, as the 
risk of its contaminating the whole yard is 



great. At all events, let it be removed from 
the yard at once. Combined with every remedy 
cleanliness is indispensable, as the first, the last, 
and the best, without which all others are vain, 
and worse than vain, as they may be pernicious 
by feeding, instead of starving, the disease. 

Warm, dry lodging, and nutritious food, are 
the first essentials to recovery; in addition, the 
frequent removal of the dried discharge from 
around the eyes and nose, by warm bathing the 
nostrils with Castile soap-suds as often as neces- 
sary, and the swollen eyes with warm milk and 
water. In the way of internal medicine, we 
find that nearly equal numbers recover under 
various modes of treatment. We have tried 
the following remedies, viz. : A pepper-corn in 
a pill of dough the three following days, the pa- 
tient being much chilled. Afterward, bathe the 
swollen parts with camphorated spirits, or bran- 
dy and water. 

"But facts are better than words," says Bos- 
well, "and we have the following case from a 
Middlesex farmer. A cock, about four or five 
months old, appai-ently turned out by some one 
to die, came astray, and was in the last stage of 
roup. The discharge from his mouth and nos- 
trils was very considerable, and extremely pun- 
gent and fetid, while his eyes appeared to be af- 
fected with inflammation, as bad as what sur- 
geons term Egyptian ophthalmia. The roup, it 
may be stated, was somewhat prevalent at the 
time, and a very fine cock had perished in a 
corner hard by, of cold and hunger, from not 
being able to eat. The roupy cock was placed 
by the fireside, his mouth and nostrils washed 
with warm water and soap, which made him ex- 
pectorate and sneeze off a quantity of the offens- 
ive obstructing matter. His eyes were washed 
with warm milk and water, and the head gently 
rubbed with a dry cloth. As he could not see 
to eat, he was put into a rabbit-hutch, with a 
warm bed of hay to squat on. Some hours 
afterward, his head was again washed, and a* 
there was much intermittent fever, though the 
cold stage prevailed, a stimulant plan was adopt- 
ed. Long pellets were formed of barley-meal, 
flour, mustard, and grated ginger, with which lie 
was crammed several times a day, his head 
bathed, and warmth attended to. lie had milk- 



198 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



warm water, sweetened with molasses, to drink, 
for the purpose of counteracting the too heat- 
ing qualities of the stimulants. The fireside 
always seemed to invigorate him ; yet he still 
breathed with difficulty, and gaped, and had a rat- 
tle in his throat. In three days, the stimulants, 
warmth, and cleanliness, improved him so much, 
that he began to see a little, and in a week his 
sight was nearly perfect. A little mustard was 
, still given him in his water, and then some flour 
of sulphur. He had also a pinch of calomel in 
some dough. He was gradually brought so as 
season him to the cold, and, in a month, was in 
high health and spirits. Having moulted late, 
he caught a cold on the first frost, and suffered 
a relapse, having cough, gaping, ruffled feathers, 
and aguish shaking; warm lodging, and occa- 
sionally a lounge by the fireside, proved a speedy- 
remedy without medicine." 

Dr. Bennett, in his " Poultry Book," remarks, 
" But for roup and all putrid affections, I con- 
fidently prescribe the following, and consider it 
the only true treament: Take finely pulverized, 
fresh-burnt charcoal, and new yeast, of each three 
parts; pulverized sulphur, two parts ; flour, one 
part ; water, quantity sufficient ; mix well, and 
make into boluses of the size of a hazel-nut, and 
give one three times a day. Cleanliness is no less 
necessary than warmth, and it will sometimes 
be desirable to bathe the eyes and nostrils with 
warm milk and water, or suds, as convenient." 

Mr. Giles, who is excellent authority, having 
had more than thirty years' experience with 
fowls, and being the owner of an extensive col- 
lection of fowls, says, "As soon as discovered, 
if in warm weather, remove the infected ones 
to some well-ventilated apartment, or yard ; if 
in winter, to some warm place ; then give a 
dessert-spoonful of castor-oil ; wash their heads 
with warm Castile soap-suds, and let them re- 
main until the next morning, fasting. Scald for 
them Indian meal, adding two and a half ounces 
of Epsom salts for ten hens, or in proportion 
for a less or larger number ; give it warm, and 
repeat the dose in a day or two, if they do not 
recover." 

CONSUMPTION. 

Notwithstanding their warm covering of 



feathers, from their peculiar structure, fowls 
are exceedingly liable to cold and other ca- 
tarrhal diseases, exhibiting themselves in the 
symptoms of hoarseness, snorting, and sneez- 
ing. It must be considered, also, that fowls are 
originally natives of a tropical climate ; and 
though long naturalized, they still retain so 
much of their original habit as to influence 
them in this respect. Very wet or very dry 
weather, or extremes of cold or of heat, are 
equally fatal ; whereas, when the weather is 
genial and equal, fowls always thrive best. The 
old poultry, in the mean while, frequently bear 
all changes of weather, without showing any 
sy r mptoms of roup. 

Symptoms. — Consumption, which is caused 
by the presence of scrofulous tubercles in the 
lungs, may almost always be induced in chick- 
ens by confining them in cold, dadc, unhealthy 
places ; we have also found tubercles in other 
organs of the body. The symptoms of con- 
sumption are not strongly marked in the early 
stages ; in the more advanced state there is 
wasting, cough, and expectoration of matter. 
They are also affected, more or less, by the cir- 
cumstances in which they are placed, spending 
a large portion of their existence in coops and 
under shelter, so that they are more liable to be 
affected by exposure. 

Treatment. — It is fortunate that consumption 
can always be prevented by wholesome, abund- 
ant diet, and good housing, for in advanced 
stages it is quite incurable ; when it is suspect- 
ed to be commencing, cod-liver oil may be 
given, mixed with barley-meal ; but as the dis- 
ease is hereditary, a fowl so preserved would be 
worse than useless as a stock-bird. Tempera- 
ture is the dominant principle, to which atten- 
tion ought to be paid. 

CROP-POUND. 

Symptoms. — The crop, or membraneous dila- 
tation of the gullet, whose office it is to receive 
food as it is swallowed, and to retain it until 
sufficiently softened by maceration, is sometimes 
so overcharged, that it is unable to expel its con- 
tents into the stomach. Erom the emptiness of 
the latter organ, the bird feels hungry, and by 
continuing to eat, adds to the mischief, until at 



DISEASES OF POULTRY. 



1 ( J9 



last, by the contraction of the crop and the 
swelling of the grain, a hardened mass is 
formed, weighing, in some cases, nearly a 
pound, and by the enormous protuberance it 
causes, giving evident indications of its pres- 
ence. Sometimes the disease is occasioned by 
a single object being swallowed, whose size is 
too large to permit it to pass into the stomach. 
In this case it serves as a nucleus for other mat- 
ters, and a mass is formed around it. " I have," 
says Mr. Tegetmeier, " now lying before me a 
piece of bone, one inch and a half long by three- 
quarters of an inch broad, which was imbedded 
in a mass of horse-hair, oat-husk, and other veg- 
etable fibres, the whole forming an egg-shaped 
solid, two and a half inches in the long and one 
and a quarter in the short diameter. This 
caused the death of the Dorking in whose crop 
it was found." 

Treatment. — The treatment of this disorder is 
very simple. With a sharp pen-knife an incis- 
ion must be made through the skin and upper 
part of the crop ; the impacted mass loosened by 
some blunt-pointed instrument, and removed. 
If it has remained many days, and is very offens- 
ive, the crop may then be washed out by pour- 
ing in some warm water. The incision, if small, 
may be left; but if large, a stitch or two is ad- 
visable. The bird should be fed on soft food a 
day or two, and will rapidly recover. Some- 
times a dessert-spoonful of gin will stimulate the 
crop sufficiently to overcome the mass, and ren- 
der the use of the knife unnecessary. 

INFLAMMATION OF THE STOMACH. 

Symptoms. — When a fowl mopes and refuses 
to eat, without any apparent cause, or selects 
only soft food, rejecting corn or grain, and, 
gradually pining, becomes excessively thin, in- 
flammation of the stomach may be suspected. 

Causes. — Overstimulating food, especially peas, 
hemp-seed, etc., necessarily make a greater 
call upon the digestive organs than more sim- 
ple and wholesome diet. The amount of gas- 
tric juice must be in proportion to the digesti- 
bility of the food ; and hence, under the use of 
peas, corn, hemp-seed, etc., the organ is over- 
worked and stimulated to such an extent as to 
become inflamed. The secretion of gastric juice 



then ceases, the food is not digested, and con- 
sequently distends the stomach to an enormous 
degree ; so that, although not naturally larger 
than the finger, we have seen it four or five 
times the size of the gizzard. 

Treatment. — The prevention of this disease, 
by the use of wholesome and natural diet, is 
easy ; the cure in advanced cases very uncer- 
tain. The only treatment to be relied on would 
be the immediate employment of a plain diet- 
ary, consisting of cooked soft food, so as to make 
the least possible call on the digestive organs ; 
and if to this regimen an occasional grain of 
calomel, at intervals of several days, he added, 
all is done that can be likely to benefit the pa- 
tient. 

DIARRHEA. 

"There are times when fowls dung more 
loosely than at others, specially when they 
have been fed on green or soft food ; but this 
may occur without the presence of disease. But 
should this state deteriorate into a confirmed 
and continued laxity, immediate attention is re- 
quired to guard against fatal effects." — Dr. Ben- 
nett. 

Symptoms. — The symptoms of diarrhea, or 
looseness, are so evident as to render descrip- 
tion hardly necessary. Lassitude, emaciation, 
and, in very severe cases, voiding of calcareous 
matter, white, streaked with yellow, resembling 
the yolk of a stale egg, and sticking to the feath- 
ers near the vent. It becomes acrid, from the 
presence of ammonia, and causes inflamma- 
tion, which extends speedily through the in- 
testines. 

Causes. — Diarrhea is generally produced by a 
too scanty supply of grain — which necessitates 
an excess of green food — dampness, undue 
acidity in the bowels, and unwholesome diet of 
any description. 

Treatment. — The treatment is simple, and of 
course depends upon the cause. When the dis- 
ease is brought on by a diet of green or soft 
food, the diet must be changed, and water 
given sparingly. Five grains of powdered chalk, 
the same quantity of rhubarb, and three of cay- 
enne pepper, may be administered; and if the 
relaxation is not speedily checked, a grain of 



200 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



opium and one of powdered ipecacuanha may 
be given every four or six hours. 

Dr. Bennett recommends, "when it arises 
from undue acidity, chalk mixed with meal; 
but rice-flour boluses are most to be depended 
upon." 

COSTIVENESS. 

"The existence of this disease," says Dr. 
Bennett, "will become apparent by observing 
the unsuccessful attempts of the fowl to relieve 
itself. It frequently proceeds from continued 
feeding of dry diet, without access to green veg- 
etables. Indeed, without the use of these, or 
some such substitute, as boiled potatoes, costive- 
ness is sure to ensue. The want of a sufficient 
supply of good water will also produce the dis- 
ease, on account of that peculiar structure which 
has already been explained, by which fowls are 
unable to void their urine except in connection 
with the fceces of solid food, and through the 
same channel." 

Remedy. — Soaked bread, with warm skim- 
milk, is a mild remedial agent, and will usually 
suffice. Boiled carrots, or cabbage, is more 
efficient. A meal of earth-worms is sometimes 
advisable, and hot potatoes, mixed with lard, 
are said to be excellent. 

LOSS OF FEATHEKS. 

This disease, which is common to confined 
fowls, is by no means to be confounded with the 
natural process of moulting. In the annual 
healthy moult, the fall of the feathers is occa- 
sioned by the protrusion of new feathers from 
the skin. In the diseased state which we now 
consider, where the feathers fall, no new ones 
come to replace them, but the fowl is left bald 
and naked. A sort of roughness appears also 
on the skin. 

The loss of feathers and the wants of poultry 
in confinement, are clearly shown by a corre- 
spondent of the Boston Medical Journal, in the 
following amusing sketch : " A most pleasing 
illustration," says he, " was the want of lime, and 
the effects of its presence, which came under my 
notice on my voyage from South America to 
France. We had omitted to procure gravel for 
our poultry, and in a few days after we were at 



sea, the poultry began to droop, and wound up 
their afflictions with the pip, or, as the sailors 
term it, the scurvy. Their feathers fell from 
their bodies, and it was perfectly ludicrous to 
see the numerous Mrcfeathered tribe in the most 
profound misery, moping away their time in an 
utter state of nudity. Amusing myself one day 
by fishing up gulf-weed, which floated in im- 
mense fields upon the surface of the ocean, I 
took from it numerous small crabs, about the 
size of a pea. The poultry, with one accord, 
aroused themselves from their torpor, and seem- 
ingly, as if by instinct, aware of the therapeutic 
qualities of these interesting animals, partook 
of them with greater avidity than any invalid 
ever swallowed the 'waters of the springs.' 
After a few hours, the excellence of the remedy 
was apparent; the cocks began to crow, the 
hens to strut and look saucy, and in a few days 
all appeared in quite a holiday suit of feathers, 
derived from the lime, the constituent part of 
the crab-shells." 

Symptoms. — A falling off in appetite, moping, 
and inactivity ; the feathers staring and falling 
off till the naked skin appears. 

Remedy. — This affection is supposed by some 
to be constitutional rather than local. Ex- 
ternal remedies, therefore, may not always be 
sufficient. Stimulants, applied externally, may 
serve to assist the operation of what medicine 
may be given. Sulphur may be thus applied, 
mixed with lard. Cayenne and sulphur, in the 
proportion of one quarter each, mixed with 
fresh butter, is good to be given internally, and 
will act as a powerful alterative. The diet 
should be changed, and cleanliness' and fresh 
air are indispensable. 

EATING THEIR FEATHERS. 

Eating each other's feathers is a habit which 
fowls often contract, when confined in yards, but 
is not, perhaps, fully understood. " It is a mor- 
bid appetite," says a writer in the Cultivator, 
" apparently induced in the outset by the impa- 
tience of the fowls under confinement." It is 
well known that fowls are very fond of blood ; 
and when moulting, the new feathers are what 
is generally called blood-shot; that is, the ends 
of the quills, when quite young, have a drop or 



DISEASES OF POULTRY. 



201 



so of blood, which induces the fowls to pluck 
for the blood contained in them ; and we knew 
it to be kept up till some individuals of the 
Hock, who were made special victims, were al- 
most entirely denuded of their feathers, and 
sometimes have even had their entrails torn 
out. 

The best preventives are animal food, such as 
bones (not burnt), oyster-shells, charcoal, and 
fresh meat, with clean water, and clean apart- 
ments. Sometimes a particular fowl shows a 
more inveterate disposition to eat feathers than 
the rest of the flock. It is best to kill or remove 
such. 

In a letter read before the British Associa- 
tion, from M. Sace, of Neufchatel, Switzerland, 
giving an account of some experiments in the 
feeding of domestic fowls, he informs us that 
some hens, fed upon barley alone, would not 
lay well, and that they tore off each other's 
feathers. He then mixed with the barley some 
feathers, chopped up, which they ate eagerly, 
and digested freely. By adding milk to the 
food, they began to lay, and ceased plucking 
out each other's feathers. He concludes, that 
this proceeding arose from the desire of the 
hens for azote food. 

WHITE COMB. 

"This disease," say the authors of the "Poul- 
try Book," " makes its first appearance in the 
form of small white spots on one or both sides 
of the comb of the cock, which are so thickly 
clustered together as to be sometimes mistaken 
for a sprinkling of meal or other white powder. 
It seems to be of a scorbutic, or leprous na- 
ture — a form of disease to which all animals of 
Eastern origin are particularly liable. It is a 
disease to which the Shanghai is constitution- 
ally subject ; although we have heard of its ex- 
istence in birds exposed to irregular diet and 
want of cleanliness. The disease should be at- 
tacked as soon as it makes its appearance. The 
consequences of neglect are related in the fol- 
lowing communication, with the appropriate 
remedy : 

"The disease is not confined to the combs 
only, but spreads itself down the neck, both in 
front and back, and takes off all the feathers as 



far as it goes, having the stumps. I saw a bird 
very lately, with his neck and breast entirely 
stripped of feathers, but the stumps all left, so 
that no hope of their return can be entertained 
until the time of moulting. 

"Now to the remaining question, ' How can it 
be cured?' By applying cocoa-nut oil and tur- 
meric. This simple remedy has been tried with 
perfect success. No other oil but that of the 
cocoa-nut seems to answer the purpose. The 
proportions are about a quarter of an ounce of 
turmeric powder to one ounce of cocoa-nut oil. 
The latter, at an ordinary temperature, is solid, 
and very much resembles spermaceti ; but it 
easily blends with the turmeric, and forms a 
yellow ointment. Three or four applications, 
with a day's interval between each, will usually 
be found effectual." 

M. Tegetmeier suggests the separation of 
the sick bird, a plain, unstimulating, whole- 
some diet — say of oatmeal and water, with a 
supply of green vegetables — and the administra- 
tion of some alterative medicine : as flour of 
sulphur ten grains, and calomel one grain, given 
every other night ; or a three-grain Plummer's 
pill might be given instead. The .plumage will 
not often reappear until next moulting-time. 

VERMIN LICE. 

The whole feathered tribe seem to be pecul- 
iarly liable to be infected with lice ; and there 
have been instances where fowls have been so 
covered in this loathsome manner, that the nat- 
ural color of the feathers has been undistin- 
guishable. 

Mascall says, "They get them in scraping 
abroad among foul straw, or on dunghills, or 
when they sit in nests not made clean, or in the 
hen-house, by their dung lying long there, which 
corrupts their bodies and breeds lice and fleas." 

The presence of vermin is not only annoying 
to poultry, but materially interferes with their 
growth, and prevents their fattening. In tri- 
fling cases, no particular attention is requisite ; 
but when the cases arc bad, the fowls should 
be removed from the rest. 

A writer in the Cultivator recommends mix- 
ing sulphur with Indian-meal and water, and 
feed in the proportion of one pound of sulphur 



202 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



to twenty-four fowls, in two parcels, a few days 
apart. It is said this will completely extermin- 
ate the lice, and produce a remarkably healthy 
and glossy appearance in the fowls. Strew oil- 
meal about the floor, in the nests, and against 
the rafters and sides of the buildings. Lining 
the nests infected with lice with tobacco-stems 
will expel them not only from the nests but 
from the body of the fowl. Another writer in 
the same paper says, "Lice may be destroyed 
by placing lard beneath the wing and on the 
back of the chicken." Sulphur, thoroughly 
dusted into the roots of the feathers, and spread 
over the entire skin, if used twice or thrice at 
intervals of a few days, is a certain cure. But 
the best remedy we have ever found is cleanli- 
ness in their roosting-places and nests, which 
should be often whitewashed with hot lime-wa- 
ter, and to place plenty of slaked lime, dry 
ashes, and sand, well mixed, where they can 
roll and bathe, by which means they will soon 
free themselves of the pests. 

Hens, while hatching, are very apt to be- 
come infested with lice ; so much so, that they 
are often driven from the nest. We have 
known the eggs covered, and the nest alive 
with them. In such cases we would recom- 
mend removing the litter and eggs, and cleans- 
ing the nest with scalding water. Then line the 
nest with tobacco-stems. 

A friend of the author was complaining last 
spring of the difficulty of keeping his hens on 
the nest in consequence of the vermin infesting 
them. We recommended the above, which was 
adopted with perfect success, and he raised a 
greater number of chickens than ever before. 
This year he raised 250, while last year he 
raised not more than 20 or 80 from the same 
number of hens. 



RHEUMATISM AND CRAMP. 

These diseases, though differing in their na- 
ture, arise so constantly from the same cause, 
and are so readily removed by the same treat- 
ment, that we have placed them together. A 
disinclination and inability to move the limbs, 
evidently not arising from mere weakness or a 
permanently cramped condition of the toes, 
are sufficiently characteristic. 

Causes. — Both disorders are caused by expo- 
sure to cold and wet, and the tendency to them 
may be much counteracted by preventing the 
fowls, during their chickenhood, from running 
among wet grass early in the morning. 

Treatment. — Local applications are perfectly 
useless. Good food, and a warm, dry habita- 
tion, are generally effectual. When chickens 
are hatched at such times as February and 
March, it must not be expected that any treat- 
ment can counteract perfectly the unnatural 
circumstances under which they are placed. 
If exposed, they suffer from cold ; and if con- 
fined in close rooms, the want of fresh air, nat- 
ural green and insect food, produce equally un- 
fortunate results. 

EATING THEIR EGGS. 

It is well known that hens, when kept shut 
up, are very apt to eat their eggs. The best 
preventive is to keep them well supplied with 
lime and gravel, and with fresh meat, in some 
form. 

Fowls to which a portion of chalk is given 
with their food, lay eggs the shells of which are 
remarkable for their whiteness. By substituting 
for chalk a calcareous earth, rich in oxide of 
iron, the shells become of a light cinnamon 
color. 



TURKEYS. 



20£ 



CHAPTER XII 

TURKEYS. 



Next to the common fowl, the most useful, 
beautiful, important, and interesting bird is the 
Turkey; it is a native of North America; a no- 
ble bird, far exceeding its domestic relative, 
both in size and beauty ; and we can boast of 
the Wild Turkey, a bird so truly valuable, that 
Dr. Franklin observed, that "it would have 
been a much fitter emblem of the country than 
the Bald-headed Eagle, a lazy, cowardly, tyran- 
nical bird, living on the labors of others, and 
more suited to represent an imperial despotic 
government than the Republic of America." 
However true this may be, it is universally 
admitted that the turkey is entitled to the 
nobility of the barn-yard. Those who have 
seen only the domesticated bird, can form but 
a very faint idea of its beauty in a state of na- 
ture. 

The turkey, with the exception of the domes- 
tic fowl, is the most recent of our reclaimed 
birds. That we can not fix the precise time, 
nor learn any of the circumstances which re- 
late to the introduction of the turkey into Eu- 
rope, may cause some astonishment when we 
reflect that it must have occurred at some period 
after the conquest of America. Buffon says, it 
"was unknown before the discovery of America, 
and it has no name in the ancient language. 
The Spaniards call it pavor de las Indias — the 
Peacock of the Indies, because its tail is like a 
peacock." 

Oviedo, who resided as Governor of the fort 
and harbor of St. Domingo, in the island of 
Hayti, in 1514, published, among other works, 
one entitled " Tradado de la J/istoria Natural 
de las Indias," which was published at Toledo 
in 1526. In this work he describes the turkey 
as a kind of peacock abounding in New Spain, 



whence numbers had been transported to the 
islands and the Spanish Main, and were domes- 
ticated in the houses of the Christian inhabit- 
ants. They were also called the India Cock and 
Hen, as they were first taken from the West In- 
dies to Europe. 

THE WILD TURKEY. 

This bird is strictly a native of North America, 
having its range from the Isthmus of Darien on 
the south, to the fifteenth degree north ; and east 
and west, the Atlantic Ocean and Rocky Mount- 
ains. No individual of the species has been 
seen south of Panama, and it is utterly unknown 
beyond Lake Superior. 

So greatly was the turkey esteemed in Eu- 
rope shortly after its introduction, that in the 
year 1566, a present of twelve turkeys was 
thought not unworthy of being offered by the 
municipality of Amiens to their King, at whose 
marriage, in 1570, it is stated that they were 
first eaten in France. Hercsback asserts that 
they were introduced into Germany about 1530 ; 
and a sumptuary law, made at Venice in 1577, 
particularizes the tables at which they were 
permitted to be used. They were first in- 
troduced from Spain into England as early as 
1525, and were in a short time spread over the 
whole kingdom, and increased to that degree, 
that in 1555 they could already furnish a dish 
in country feasts. They have since been do- 
mesticated throughout the civilized world, in 
every climate, although said not to succeed 
equally on the barren sands of Africa. 

The plumage of the Wild Turkey is gener- 
ally described as being compact, glossy, with 
metallic reflections; feathers double, as in oth- 
er gallinaceous birds, generally oblong or trim- 



204 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 




THE WILD TURKEY. 



cated ; tips of the feathers almost conceal the 
bronze color. The large quill coverts are of 
the same color as the back, but more bronzed 
with purple reflections. The lower part of the 
back and tail coverts are deep chestnut, banded 
green and black ; the tail feathers are of the 
same color, undulatingly barred and minutely 
sprinkled with black, and having a broad black- 
ish bar toward the tip, which is pale brown 
and minutely mottled ; the under parts duller ; 
breast of the same color as the back, the term- 



inating black band not so broad ; sides dark- 
colored ; abdomen and thighs brownish-gray ; 
under tail coverts blackish, glossed with brown, 
and at the tips bright reddish-brown. 

The plumage of the male is very brilliant; 
that of the female is not so beautiful. When 
strutting about, with tail spread, displaying him- 
self, this bird has a very stately and handsome 
appearance, and seems quite sensible of the ad- 
miration he excites. 

Dr. Bachman says, "that in a state of domes- 



TURKEYS. 



2or> 



tication the wild turkeys, though kept separate 
from tame individuals, lose the brilliancy of 
their plumage in the third generation, becom- 
ing plain brown, and having here and there 
white feathers intermixed." 

The wild turkeys are described as being 
much larger than the tame ones. Far from 
being improved by care and abundance of food, 
contrary to most other wild animals, this spe- 
cies have degenerated. Wild turkeys, it is said, 
often weigh from forty to sixty pounds. 

Many attempts have been made to introduce 
the wild turkey, in its native state, on several 
preserves of game in Europe, but with the ex- 
ception of one or two instances in England, 
they have not succeeded. 

" The great size and beauty," says Audubon, 
who, it appears, has studied the habits, and 
written more largely of that bird than any other 
individual or natural historian, " of the wild tur- 
key, its value as a delicate and highly-prized ar- 
ticle of food, and the circumstance of its being 
the origin of the domestic race, now generally 
dispersed on both continents, render it one of 
the most interesting of the birds indigenous to 
the United States of America. The flesh is of 
excellent flavor, being more delicate and juicy 
than that of the domestic turkey. The Indians 
value it so highly that they term it ' the white 
man's dish.' " 

"As a matter of curiosity more than profit," 
says a writer in the Rural New Yorker, " I pur- 
chased, two years ago last fall, a pair of full- 
blooded wild turkeys — real Native Americans 
— from a flock, some of which exceeded thirty 
pounds each in weight. Being but a novice in 
the rearing of poultry, I procured Mr. C. N. Be- 
ment's book upon the subject, turned to the ar- 
ticle in which I was interested — being about five 
dollars contra — but no small amount of pleasure 
and profit in anticipation. I read with pleasure 
the observation of Dr. Franklin, who considered 
the 'wild turkey so truly noble and valuable 
that it would have been a much fitter emblem 
of the country than the White-headed Eagle,' 
and also that of Audubon, whose knowledge of 
the feathered bipeds can not be gainsayed, 'that 
its great size and beauty render it one of the 
most interesting of the birds indigenous to the 



United States — that its flesh is of excellent fla- 
vor, more delicate and juicy than that of the 
domestic turkey, rendering it a valuable and 
highly-prized article of food,' all of which was 
highly flattering to my new enterprise, and quite 
an inducement with me to persevere. 

" Being a native of Down East, and an advo- 
cate for progression. I felt an instinctive desire 
that, in the general march, any improvement in 
the main feature of our time-honored festival, 
so indispensable as the turkey, should not be 
neglected ; but in pursuing the article farther, 
I found doubts expressed by some partial ex- 
periments as to rearing and domesticating them, 
intimating that their disposition to wander off 
would be very difficult if not impossible to over- 
come. Now I live within about thirty rods of 
thirty acres of timbered land, which produced 
great quantities of nuts a year ago last fall, the 
first season of my enterprise, which afforded as 
great temptations to them, no doubt, as to the 
tame turkey, and they were often there, yet they 
were never known to be absent from their ac- 
customed roost at night. I had but one male 
during last winter, and he selected the highest 
point on the wood-shed, which he maintained, 
regardless of the elements, every night, I be- 
lieve, during the winter. The hens took a less 
conspicuous but more protected position in- 
side. 

"Last spring one of the hens succeeded in 
bringing out eleven chicks, which were left en- 
tirely to the mother, running at large. None 
of them appeared to suffer from exposure to 
rains or dews, and but for an accident by which 
we lost three, I should now be able to exhibit a 
brood of the most beautiful birds, whose aggre- 
gate weight would not have been less than 150 
pounds, judging from the size of those on hand. 
I have had most kinds of poultry during the past 
two years, excepting ducks and geese, and I am 
satisfied that the wild turkey is the least de- 
structive and least expensive. 

"Two important considerations, so far as 
profit is concerned, remain to be noticed. Mine 
were fed nothing, after a few days old, till late 
in the fall. They appeared to thrive well on 
weeds, grass, and most kinds of flics and bugs, 
and during the continuance of grasshoppers 



206 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



they enjoyed a continual feast. They are swift 
destruction to all the various kinds of bugs, flies, 
and other insects that infest the garden, except 
the rose bugs, those they could not be induced 
to breakfast upon. 

" In a pecuniary estimate, exclusive of their 
weight and value in the market, I have given 
mine credit for some very nice cucumbers, mel- 
ons, and squashes, nearly equaling them in 
value. My experience confirms all Mr. Be- 
ment says in regard to size, constitution, and 
habits, but I have always been unable to detect 
any propensity to wander off more than is com- 
mon to the domestic turkey. His reasons for 
giving them a decided preference over the last, 
namely, 'that they are larger, often weighing 
from 20 to 30 pounds, more robust, will bear the 
rain and wet grass, and are therefore more eas- 
ily raised ; and also, being great hunters of flies, 
bugs, and other insects, they require less corn 
and meal, and, consequently, are more profit- 
able,' corresponds with my two years' experi- 
ence." 

Bonaparte, in his splendid work on the 
"American Ornithology," gives an account of 
the ingenious way in which the turkeys escape 
the insidious attacks of their enemies : "These 
birds are guardians of each other, and the first 
who sees a hawk or eagle gives a note of alarm, 
on which all within hearing lie close to the 
ground. As they usually roost in flocks, perched 
on the naked branches of trees, they are easily 
discovered by the large owls, and when attacked 
by these prowling birds, often escape by a some- 
what remarkable manoeuvre. The owl sails 
round the spot to select his prey ; but, notwith- 
standing the almost inaudible action of his pin- 
ions, the quick car of one of his slumberers per- 
ceives the danger, which is easily announced to 
the whole party by a chuck. Thus alarmed, 
they rise on their legs and watch the motions 
of the owl, who, darting like an arrow, would 
inevitably secure the individual at which he 
aimed, did not the latter suddenly drop his 
head, squat, and spread his tail over his back ; 
the owl then glances over without inflicting any 
injury, at the very instant that the turkey suf- 
fers himself to fall headlong toward the earth, 
when he is secure from his dreaded enemy. 



"As early as the middle of February they 
begin to experience the impulse of propagation. 
The females separate, and fly from the males. 
The latter strenuously pursue, and begin to gob- 
ble or to utter the notes of exultation. The 
sexes roost apart, but at no great distance from 
each other. When a female utters a call-note, 
all the gobblers within hearing return the sound, 
rolling note after note with as much rapidity as 
if they intended to emit the last and first to- 
gether, not with spread tail, as when fluttering 
round the females on the ground, or practicing 
on the branches of the trees on which they have 
roosted for the night, but much in the manner 
of the domestic turkey when an unusual or un- 
expected noise elicits its singular hubbub. If 
the call of the female comes from the ground, 
all the males immediately fly to the spot, and 
the moment they reach it, whether the hen be 
in sight or not, spread out and erect their tail, 
draAV the head back on the shoulders, depress 
their wings with a quivering motion, and strut 
pompously about, emitting at the same time a 
succession of puffs from the lungs, and stopping 
now and then to listen and look. But whether 
they spy the female or not, they continue to 
puff and strut, moving with as much celerity as 
their idea of ceremony seems to admit. While 
thus occupied, the males often encounter each 
other, in which case desperate battles take place, 
ending in bloodshed and often in the loss of 
many lives, the weaker falling under the re- 
peated blows inflicted upon the head by the 
stronger. 

"Turkey cocks, when at rcost, sometimes 
strut and gobble, spread out their tails, and 
emit the pulmonic puff, lowering their tails and 
other feathers immediately after. During clear 
nights, or when there is moonshine, they per- 
form this at intervals of a few minutes for hours 
together, without moving from the same spot, 
and, indeed, sometimes without raising on their 
legs, especially toward the end of the love-sea- 
son. The males now become greatly emaciated, 
and cease to gobble, their breast-sponge becom- 
ing flat. They then separate from the hens, 
and one might suppose that they had entirely 
deserted their neighborhood. 

"About the middle of April, when the season 



TURKEYS. 



207 



is dry, the hens begin to look about for a place 
in which to deposit their eggs. This place re- 
quires to be as much concealed as possible. 
The nest, which consists of a few withered 
leaves, is placed on the ground, in a hollow 
scooped out by the side of a log, or in the fall- 
en top of a dry leafy tree, under a thicket of 
sumach or briers, or a few feet of the edge of a 
cane-brake, but always in a dry place. The 
eggs, which are of a dull cream-color, sprinkled 
with red dots, sometimes amount to twenty, al- 
though their usual number is from ten to fifteen. 
When depositing her eggs, the female always 
approaches the nest with extreme caution, 
scarcely ever taking the same course twice ; and 
when about to leave them, covers them care- 
fully with leaves, so that it is very difficult for 
a person who may have seen the bird to discern 
the nest. 

" Turkey hens not unfrequently prefer islands 
for depositing their eggs and rearing their young, 
probably because such places are less frequented 
by hunters, and because the great masses of 
drifted timber which usually accumulate at their 
heads may protect and save them in cases of 
great emergency. 

" When an enemy passes within sight of a 
female while laying or sitting, she never moves, 
unless she knows that she has been discovered, 
but crouches lower until he has passed. They 
seldom abandon their nest when it has been 
discovered by men ; but never go near it again 
when a snake or other animal has sucked any 
of the eggs. 

" The mother will not leave her eggs, when 
near hatching, under any circumstances, while 
life remains. She will even allow an inclosure 
to be made around her, and thus suffer impris- 
onment rather than abandon them. 

"Before leaving the nest with her young 
brood, the mother shakes herself in a violent 
manner, picks and adjusts the feathers about 
her belly, and assumes quite a different aspect. 
She ultimately inclines her eyes obliquely up- 
ward and sideways, stretching out her neck to 
discover hawks or other enemies, spreads her 
wings a little as she walks, and softly clucks to 
keep her innocent offspring close to her. They 
move slowly along; and, as the hatching gen- 



erally takes place in the afternoon, they fre- 
quently return to the nest to spend the first 
night there. In this tender state, when they 
are only covered by a kind of soft hairy down, 
rainy weather is extremely dangerous to them. 
To prevent the disastrous effects of wet weath- 
er, the mother, like a skillful physician, plucks 
the buds of the spruce-wood bush, and gives 
them to her young. 

" In about a fortnight, the young birds, which 
had previously rested on the ground, leave it, 
and fly at night to some very large, low branch, 
where they place themselves under the deeply- 
curved wings of their kind and careful parent, 
dividing themselves for that purpose into two 
equal parties. After this, they leave the woods 
during the day, and approach the natural glades 
or prairies in search of strawberries, and subse- 
quently of dewberries, blackberries, and grass- 
hoppers, thus obtaining abundant food and en- 
joying the beneficial influence of the sun's rays. 
They roll themselves in deserted ants' nests, to 
clear their growing feathers of the loose scales, 
and prevent ticks and other vermin from attack- 
ing them, these insects being unable to bear the 
odor of the earth in which ants have been. 

"About the beginning of October, when 
scarcely any of the seeds and fruits have yet 
fallen from the trees, these birds assemble in 
large flocks, and gradually move toward the 
rich bottom lands of the Ohio and Mississippi. 
The males, or, as they are more commonly 
called, the gobblers, associate in parties of from 
ten to a hundred, and search for food apart 
from the females ; and while the latter are seen 
either advancing singly, each with its brood of 
y r oung, then about two-thirds grown, or in con- 
nection with other families, forming parties oft- 
en amounting to seventy or eighty individuals, 
all intent on shunning the lold cocks, which, 
even when the young birds nave attained this 
size, will fight with, and often destroy them by 
repeated blows on the head. Old and young, 
however, all move in the same course and on 
foot, unless their progress be interrupted by a 
river, or the hunter's dog force them to take 
wing. When they come upon a river, they be- 
take themselves to the highest eminences, and 
there often remain a whole day r , or sometimes 



208 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



two, as if for the purpose of consultation. Dur- 
ing this time the males are heard gobbling, call- 
ing, and making much ado, and are seen strut- 
ting about as if to raise their courage to a pitch 
befitting the emergency. Even the females and 
young assume something of the same pompous 
demeanor, and spread out their tails and run 
round each other, purring loudly, and perform- 
ing extravagant leaps. At length, when the, 
weather appears settled, and all around is quiet, 
the whole party mounts to the tops of the high- 
est trees, whence, at a signal consisting of a sin- 
gle cluck given by a leader, the flock takes flight 
for the opposite shore. The old and fat birds 
easily get over, even should the river be a mile 
in breadth, but the younger and less robust fre- 
quently fall into the water — not to be drowned, 
however, as might be imagined. They bring 
their wings close to their body, spread out their 
tail as a support, stretch forward their neck, 
and striking out their legs with great vigor, pro- 
ceed rapidly toward the shore, on approaching 
which, should they find it too steep for landing, 
they cease their exertions for a few moments, 
float down the stream until they come to an ac- 
cessible part, arid, by a violent effort, generally 
extricate themselves from the water. It is re- 
markable that, immediately after thus crossing 
a large stream, they ramble about for some time, 
as if bewildered. In this state, they fall an easy 
prey to the hunter. 

"When the turkeys arrive in parts where the 
mast is abundant, they separate into smaller 
flocks, composed of birds of all ages and both 
sexes promiscuously mingled, and devour all 
before them. This happens about the middle 
of November. So gentle do they sometimes 
become after these long journeys, that they have 
been seen to approach the farm-yards, associate 
with the domestic fowls, and enter the stables 
and corn-cribs in quest of food. In this way, 
roaming about the forests and feeding chiefly 
on mast, they pass the autumn and part of the 
winter." 

THE DOMESTIC TURKEY. 

We have spoken of the turkey of nature ; we 
will now treat of the turkey of art ; that is, the 
turkey that makes so interesting a part of our 



rural and domestic economy. They are, next 
to the common fowl, the most useful and valu- 
able of domestic birds, and, at the same time, 
that which requires the greatest care in the first 
moments of its existence. When once reared, 
however, every temperature agrees with it. 

Of the turkey, Buffon and others assert that, 
there is but one species; and in this country 
we have three varieties — the black, the copper- 
color, and white. The first is considered the 
most hardy, and generally preferred ; the sec- 
ond is held by some in great esteem ; the latter, 
with their red head and caruncles, contrasted 
with their snowy whiteness, make a pretty ap- 
pearance, and add much to embellish the grounds 
of the house. Their feathers are valuable, and 
they have much down on the thighs. 

According to Parmentier, the white turkey, 
contrary to analogy, is by some thought to be 
more robust and easily reared and fattened ; 
and hence large flocks of these may be seen in 
some parts of France. Such, however, is not 
our experience, but the reverse. The black 
turkey, on the contrary, is always most market- 
able, from its being said their skin is white, and 
their flesh finer and sweeter ; while the males 
are larger, and the females are better breeders. 

There can be little doubt that black turkeys 
are produced in greater numbers than an)' other 
color. Madame Clavier, an ingenious French 
lady, fond of rural economy, told M. Parmen- 
tier that she had a white turkey cock in her 
3 r ard, with ten black turkey hens, and yet she 
never had a white chick hatched, nor even 
shadad in the slightest degree. In Dauphiny, 
on the other hand, they are found of every 
shade of color, from a deep black to a pure 
white. 

Mowbray tells us that a turkey cock, the 
property of a gentleman in England, which was 
black in 1821, became afterward perfectly white, 
and in the process of moulting, just before this 
singular change, it gradually showed every shade 
between the two colors, the feathers being al- 
ternately black and white. 

" Although not of ancient date," says Main, 
" the subjugation of turkeys has already pro- 
duced varieties in our climate. The most re- 
markable is that of the tufted turkey, as yet very 



TURKEYS. 



209 




THE DOMESTIC TUKKEY. 



rare, arid whose tuft is sometimes black and 
sometimes white." 

Turkeys in the neighborhood of large woods, 
if not watched and prevented, will eagerly stroll 
thither without any design to return, such is 
the natural wildness of their species. In cor- 
roboration of the above, an instance was com- 
municated by a correspondent in the Sporting 
Magazine, of May, 1824, who says, " Two years 
last harvest, a two year old cock and two hens 
of the same, belonging to me, were seen to prowl 
in a wood of eighty acres, a short distance from 
my house ; and night coming on before they 
were observed by the person who had charge 
of them, all attempts to recover them were 
in vain. No tidings being had of them, all 
efforts to rescue them proved fruitless ; and as 
nothing was heard of them for several months, 
I, of course, concluded that they were either 
picked .up by some persons who had stumbled 
upon them, or had been killed by foxes. About 
six months ago, however, I was riding through 
a large covert about half a mile from that into 
which my turkeys were seen to go, when a hen, 
apparently in a state of alarm, ran before my 
horse's feet, and disappeared in the bushes. It 
immediately occurred to me, as the color was 
O 



the same, that she was one of the hens I had 
lost more than two years before. I have since 
caught her, and she is now in my yard. The 
other hen, which has young ones, was also 
caught, but on being given to a boy to hold, 
broke away from him again, and is still in the 
wood, with the cock-bird and the young ones. 
The one that I recovered had been sitting on • 
eggs, as was evident from the state of her breast. 
Thus have these birds survived two winters, one 
a very severe one, in the woods, without either 
food or shelter, except that which nature pro- 
vided for them." 

That the turkey is susceptible of education is 
obvious from the following very interesting facts 
communicated to the author by Mr. L. Kenne- 
dy, of Hartford : " A few years ago I purchased 
a pair of turkeys, kept them through the winter, 
and in the spring, instead of laying at home, 
they absconded. After hunting them up a 
number of times, sometimes finding them two 
miles off, I killed them. In the fall I procured 
another pair, and as the snow melted away they 
began to play at the same tricks ; but by shut- 
ting them up I obtained a few eggs, and raised 
three young ones. When tliey were about half- 
grown I killed the old ones. One of the young 



210 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



ones was needed for ' Thanksgiving,' and the re- 
maining two I kept through the winter. About 
the time for the hen to commence laying I killed 
the cock, to prevent too much conversation and 
intimacy with distant flocks. That year I raised 
eight young ones, and they seemed to have made 
considerable progress toward becoming domes- 
ticated. 

" Last year I kept over two hens and a male 
bird, and in the spring they both laid near the 
house, one of them under a bush in the garden, 
and the other in the barn. The one in the gar- 
den laid her third egg on the morning after the 
last snow that season, which was, I believe, the 
last of March or fore part of April. I discov- 
ered her nest by the tracks in the snow. Sup- 
posing the first two eggs were injured by the 
cold, I left them in the nest, and removed the 
succeeding ones from day to day until I had 
taken out sixteen, when she began to sit. I 
then removed the two eggs and placed the six- 
teen in the nest, adding also one from the nest 
of the other turkey. The other turkey sat on 
fourteen eggs and hatched out twelve; only 
one, however, proved to be rotten, the other 
was broken in consequence of the nest being 
too dishing. I did not remove the eggs from 
this nest as they were laid. I placed the old 
turkeys in coops near to each other, and conse- 
quently I can not say how many of each brood 
died. The season was quite wet, so that I lost 
eleven and raised eighteen. I should have 
raised more, probably, had I been situated so as 
to have let them run sooner, but as it was I 
succeeded much better than most of the farm- 
ers in this section. I give the young ones no 
food for the first twenty-four hours or longer, 
leaving them to peck the stones and dirt. Aft- 
er this I feed moderately with the curd of sour 
milk, never with clear meal, until they are sev- 
eral weeks old. 

" My turkeys, I am quite confident, not only 
know my voice but my person ; and why not ? 
'The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his 
master's crib.' This season they have not ram- 
bled to any distance, and usually taking care to 
be at home at meal times. But if all this is 
not sufficient to satisfy you of their being more 
domesticated than the ' comjnonatoV let me 



add another circumstance which somewhat sur- 
prised me. The first of November I changed 
my residence, moving about thirty or forty rods 
from my former house, designing to remove the 
turkeys as soon as I had prepared a place to 
confine them. But the day after I removed, the 
turkeys followed one of the members of my 
family without his calling them at all, and came 
to the barn of their present home, when I fed 
them. At night they flew into an apple-tree in 
the garden, and have given me not the least 
trouble since. The tree where they formerly 
roosted is within sight, and yet they have never 
been into it, but have remained perfectly con- 
tented with their new location. I have nine 
of them now, all but one of which I design to 
put on my farm in the spring. The males which 
I killed the 16th of November, averaged about 
10 pounds, and one of them weighed 101 pounds, 
all young ones. 

" I think in an ordinary season I can ten-fold 
a flock of turkeys at an expense not exceeding 
twenty cents each." 

As a further proof that turkeys may be made 
as tame and domestic as any other fowl, we will 
relate what occurred on our own premises : 
About two years ago we purchased a cock and 
two hen turkeys of the white variety. They 
had been hatched in the woods and suffered to 
run at large, and in the fall they selected some 
tall pines for their roosting-place. On bringing 
them home and putting them in the yard with 
the other fowls, they refused to stay there, and 
would not roost in the house at first, preferring 
the top of the building or a tall elm-tree stand- 
ing near. As the cold weather approached, 
and feeding them only in the house, they final- 
ly took to roost with the other fowls, and have 
remained there ever since. 

They soon became very quarrelsome, and 
would not suffer the other fowls to sit near 
them, pecking with their bills and throwing 
them from their roost. For which reason we 
attempted to keep them out of the yard, and 
removed them to the barn-yard, where there 
was a good shed for them to roost in. While 
the snow was deep they remained tolerably 
quiet, but as soon as the weather and snow 
would permit, they found their way to the yard 



TURKEYS. 



211 



again. We removed them the second and third 
time, feeding them plentifully, hut all to no 
purpose ; leave the poultry-yard they would not. 

The following account of the propensity in a 
cock turkey for incubation was related by a cor- 
respondent of the Genesee Farmer: "The cir- 
cumstance," says the writer, " I am about to re- 
late, as far as I know, is not common, if it ex- 
ists at all. I have been in the habit of rearing 
a good many domestic fowls, and among them 
have been rather partial to the turkey, particu- 
larly to fat ones about Christmas. Among a 
brood I once possessed, there was one male, 
who was a long-legged, gander-shanked fellow, 
of a most unique appearance. During the pe- 
riod of incubation one of the hens began to sit, 
and she, seeming to know the old gentleman's 
propensity, was very careful to manage in a very 
private and secret manner. The cock began to 
grow uneasy, and mounted the stumps and 
fences, watching for the appearance of the hen, 
and peering about to find the place of her con- 
cealment, which he usually discovered the first 
or second day ; when he, by virtue of his au- 
thority as one of the lords of creation, immedi- 
ately took possession of the nest, and from that 
time forward, till the period of hatching, went 
on with the regular process, when he brought 
off his brood, and duly carried them forward to 
maturity ; when the hen, poor simple wife, was 
allowed to trudge along at a respectable dis- 
tance, in the true after-honeymoon style. 

"Although I am aware that certain other 
birds, male and female, alternately sit upon the 
nest during the period of incubation, yet I am 
not informed of any case where a male has 
shown such a decided passion and propensity 
for the sedentary habit of hatching eggs. This 
he has performed for three years in succession, 
and being such a notable exhibition of pugna- 
cious opposition to petticoat government, he 
became quite a favorite, and I intended to have 
kept him as an example to some of my neigh- 
bors, and as a rara avis in terris. But one night 
he came up missing, and whether he was sacri- 
ficed as a target at a Christmas gambol, or made 
one at Master Reynard's supper, or is even yet 
sitting on eggs that proved addled, I was never 
able to ascertain." 



" The antipathy," says Mowbray, " which the 
turkey cock entertains for any thing of a red 
color, is well known ; and indeed will never be 
forgotten by myself, who, at about the age of 
eight years, having on a red waistcoat, was 
chased by two of them around a very extensive 
yard, to my most terrible affright and discom- 
fiture." 

Rearing Turkeys. — The first great requisite is 
to have good stock to raise from, both male and 
female. The cock turkey should be of a large 
size, and as he does not attain to his full growth 
till he is two or three years old, one of this age 
is to be preferred, though yearlings are gener- 
ally made to answer. The color should be jet- 
black or bronze, with legs to match. There is 
very little difficulty in finding a cock turkey 
whose strut is sufficiently martial to satisfy the 
most precise stickler for a military carriage. 
With tail spread and erect, breast inflated, and 
head and throat inflamed, he marches a perfect 
Haynau of the poultry-yard. The number of 
females that should constitute his harem are 
hardly ever more than can be suitably provided 
for by him. A great point is to prevent a de- 
terioration of stock by breeding in-and-in. It 
is, therefore, necessary to change the cock tur- 
key every year. A strong and healthy brood 
of chicks is thus secured. 

With the same view, the largest hen turkeys 
— and if more than a year old the better — should 
be reserved for mothers. If you expect a large 
litter of eggs, the hens must be well kept through 
the winter, but not so as to become very fat, 
otherwise they will not lay so early as is desir- 
able. If they do not begin to lay till May, they 
will not complete their litter and be ready to 
sit till June, which will bring the hatch into 
July; and thus only five months allowed for 
their growth until the period arrives for Thanks- 
giving turkeys. It is considered, therefore, by 
experienced persons, quite an object to have an 
early litter of eggs. 

The turkey is an out-of-door bird. In this 
respect he retains, even in his domesticated 
state, that love of freedom which characterizes 
the aborigines of our country. Turkeys have 
no fondness for a shed or shelter for a rOOSting- 
place ; but in the coldest weather in winter, in 



212 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



the severest storms of rain or snow, they prefer 
the open air, and a lofty tree on which to take 
up lodgings for the night. Here, perched head 
to the wind, they ride out the hardest gales in 
safety with apparent pleasure. The instances 
are rare in which they are known to perish from 
cold or storm. When the old hens shed their 
feathers late in the fall, as will sometimes be 
the case, it is well to house them in storms and 
cold nights, till they renew their feathers, and 
it may be prudent to do so in extremely severe 
weather in winter. 

We will now suppose that winter is gone, and 
spring is beginning to open. The notes of the 
blue-bird and robin are heard welcoming the 
advent of warmer skies. As the snow melts 
away, patches of green grass are here and there 
disclosed to view. Turkeys no longer hang 
about the barn, like so many loafers, but spend 
most of their time in the orchard, and on the 
sunny side of walls and buildings. The cock 
turkey now is as full of airs as any city dandy, 
perambulating hither and thither, strutting in 
front and at the sides of his hens, more intent 
on exciting admiration of his own beautiful per- 
son than bestowing it upon theirs. This species 
of courtship continues throughout the spring, 
even after the hens have laid out their litters 
and have began to sit. His attentions to them 
during this period often become so officious and 
annoying that it is best to separate him entirely 
from them. 

The hen turkey is very shy in selecting her 
nest, and is sometimes so particular as to be a 
number of days in securing a place to her fancy. 
In this she is probably governed by instinct to 
provide a safe place for her eggs and her young. 
The first intimation, after mating, of her dispo- 
sition to lay, is by her stealing away from her 
companions, going here and there, with head 
down, as if meditating upon the task before her. 
If closely watched, she will be most likely to 
give up her project for the present. Even after 
she has began to lay, she must be followed at a 
distance. A better way to find the nest, if out 
of doors, is to observe the direction in which 
she returns from it. 

If left to her own choice, the turkey will usu- 
ally make her nest out of doors, at the side of 



walls, under a bush, in long grass, or in a thick- 
et. Although so fastidious in the site of ho- 
nest, she is not at all particular as to the ma, 
terials of which it is composed, and is as well 
contented with the bare ground as with a bed 
of leaves. After a place is selected, it is not 
always the first day or the second that it is made 
the depository for the first egg. She seems in- 
tent rather on adapting herself to it and en- 
deavoring to get the hang of it. The numbei 
of eggs which a turkey will lay in the spring va- 
ries from fifteen to twenty-five. They should 
be gathered daily, or as often as they are laid, 
and carefully kept in a cool place. If left out 
over night, they may be chilled or stolen. But 
to guard against such accidents nature teaches 
the turkey — silly bird as we sometimes call her 
— just what to do, by covering them up careful- 
ly with leaves or dead grass. To be sure she 
does this in warm weather as well as cold, but 
the covering serves equally in both to screen 
them from observation. 

When she has laid her litter, the turkey man- 
ifests her desire to sit by remaining on her nest 
even if no nest-egg be under her. She should 
be permitted to do this for some days before 
the eggs are placed under her, observing, how- 
ever, to drive her off at night if the nest be out 
of doors. When this is the case, it will not be 
safe to let her sit there, as the eggs and herself 
will be exposed to weasels, skunks, foxes, and 
other midnight marauders. A nest should there- 
fore be prepared for her under cover. The 
barn is a good place for this purpose, and the 
ground-floor. Better still is a shed or an out- 
house, which can be kept fastened, as the lia- 
bility to accidents is thus diminished to almost 
none at all. The nests should be rather shal- 
low, and spread out over sufficient space for all 
the eggs to rest on the surface. 

The number of eggs that can be covered by 
a turkey depends upon her size : twenty is a 
large number, and better success may be ex- 
pected with fifteen or seventeen. Having placed 
the eggs in the nest, allow the hen turkey to 
remain on her original nest, if out of doors, till 
dusk, and then carefully take her in your arms 
and remove her to her new abode. Sometimes 
she will be frightened and disposer 1 to escape. 



TURKEYS. 



213 



To prevent her leaving, secure a piece of lattice, 
made of laths, in front of the nest on placing 
her there. Similar screens may be attached to 
all the nests, thus keeping the inmates as se- 
curely shut up as if they were in so many cages. 
This arrangement demands more care of the 
turkeys than when they have their liberty, as 
they must be let off every day to eat and drink, 
and for health and cleanliness. The way once 
learned into the building, there is no trouble in 
their returning to it afterward. 

The turkey is a close sitter, so close that we 
have almost uniformly been obliged, on remov- 
ing the lattice, to use some efforts to drive her 
off. She quits reluctantly. When off, she feeds 
and drinks eagerly; she runs about quickly, 
pecking the green grass, and if she can find any 
dry loose dirt she settles herself in it, flapping 
the dirt rapidly with her wings over her body, 
and then hastens back to her nest. This ad- 
hesiveness to her eggs grows stronger as the 
time of hatching approaches. She should then 
seldom be disturbed. Four weeks is the usual 
term of incubation, but it is protracted some- 
times a day or two longer. Turkeys' eggs may 
be placed under common fowls, and hatched 
with success, if no more eggs are used for this 
purpose than can be fully covered. This is 
convenient in the spring, in order to enlarge 
other broods. 

As soon as the chicks break the shell it may 
be known by a peculiarly soft and tremulous 
sound uttered by the mother, as if recognizing 
the new-born brood, and expressing the anx- 
ious sensations that now throb in her bosom. 
We know of no sound more touching and plain- 
tive ; a sound which she never makes till this 
epoch in her existence. A turkey will almost 
always hatch out the larger proportion of her 
eggs on which she has sat, and not unfrequently 
the whole of them. We have known instances 
when, on removing the old bird for the first time 
after hatching, the entire brood presented them- 
selves as lively as crickets. 

Now that the young have fairly entered on 
life, what is to be done with them ? Were she 
in the woods, wild and undomesticatetl, leave 
them to the care of the mother; for Nature is 
the best guardian and provider. But she is un- 



der our protection, and in our hands is the des- 
tiny of her offspring. We must do something 
for them at least after they are one or two days 
old, or they will perish by starvation. In doing 
this, however, avoid the too frequent and mis- 
chievous practice of stuffing and overloading 
them with food. They are but tiny birds, with 
delicate constitutions. In a state of nature, 
ants' eggs are eagerly devoured by them ; curd, 
or thickened milk, chopped fine, Ave have found 
a good substitute. Crumbs of bread, softened 
in milk or water, is excellent food for them when 
quite young. The same food of which the pa- 
rent turkey eats, except grain in an unbroken 
state, the chicks will eat. They are great de- 
vourers of insects. Did you never observe 
them, when they espied a bug or fly, and notice 
with what precision and unerring aim they seize 
it? They should, for one or two weeks, be 
kept in a dry place under cover, and they may 
be placed out of doors in some inclosure to keep 
them from rambling. A frequent practice is to 
tie the mother to a stake, with a string tied to 
one of her legs ; but this is a bad practice, and 
liable to many accidents. The best way to 
confine the mother is to place a crockery crate 
over her, at the sides of which the little ones 
could have an easy passage in and out. To 
confine the young and prevent them from going 
abroad before the dew is off in the morning, 
boards may be placed at the sides and ends, 
and secured by driving stakes in the ground. 
The top should be covered with boards also, to 
protect them from rain. There should also be 
a floor of boards — an old door would be still 
better, as it would be. tight, and keep out rats, 
etc. The floor should be covered with hay or 
straw, which should often be replenished and 
removed frequently for the purpose of cleanli- 
ness. The cleaner they arc kept the less liable 
are they to be infested with lice. 

As the chicks grow, they will need larger 
supplies of food. Curd and thick skim-milk 
. are good articles of diet. Beware of giving any 
salt with the food of young turkeys. For drink, 
let them be supplied with water placed in shal- 
low vessels. 

After a few weeks, the young brood may be 
allowed to accompany the mother in her ram- 



211 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



bles, giving her the range of a pasture if prac- 
ticable. They will soon learn to forage for in- 
sects, which promotes their health and growth. 
Dry summers make large turkeys, the weather 
being favorable to their rambling, and insects 
and grasshoppers are then plenty. 

Early in the fall they should be fed night and 
morning with dry corn. When the weather 
becomes colder, they may be supplied at fre- 
quent intervals with boiled potatoes, mashed 
with Indian meal and skim-milk, given to them 
warm, of which they are very fond. If they are 
fed regularly, they will soon leam to come for 
their meals. If thus plentifully fed, they thrive 
most rapidly, increasing in size, in the short 
space of six months, from the mere chick that 
was hatched in the spring to the plump and 
tempting roaster, if a male, of twelve to fifteen 
pounds, and if a female, eight and ten pounds 
weight. 

Now, the question may be asked, will they 
pay a profit for the rearing ? When they bring 
twelve and fifteen cents per pound, we think 
those that raise them are generally satisfied. 
Besides, it is a pleasant task to have the care 
of turkeys. They are sociable, and company 
at all times ; first to salute you in the morning 
with their gabbling, then the young with their 
pee-up, pee-up, etc. And the interest we take 
in them is all the greater ft-om the care and 
solicitude with which we have watched over 
them. 

It has often been repeated that extreme dif- 
ficulties occurred in raising the turkey; and 
that when, by dint of great pains, we had suc- 
ceeded so far as to secure them from those ac- 
cidents which threaten them till the time when 
the red color of the head shoots, the expenses 
they afterward incurred to bring them to a de- 
sirable plumpness, exceeded the produce of the 
sale ; this was sufficient to deter farmers from 
admitting this bird into their farm-yards, and 
they have been consequently deprived of a sure 
means of increasing the resources of the house, 
and at the same time of adding to the resources 
of the farm. 

It is important, in breeding animals, to at- 
tend to their natural instinct as much as possi- 
ble, and it is no doubt from the neglect of this, 



that all the degeneracy and difficulty of rearing 
them which occurs may arise. 

In its native forests the turkey is naturally a 
wandering and migratory bird, and hence it is 
unnatural to confine it to the narrow range of 
a poultry-yard ; we speak from experience, as 
we found it, to our sorrow true, for one or two 
years. They have a strong disposition to wan- 
der, and will sometimes steal away a long dis- 
tance from home, apparently wishing not to be 
observed. 

Laborious efforts are not here required, but 
some care and a little patience. If attempts to 
raise turkeys have not been crowned with suc- 
cess, it is entirely owing to the unskillfulness 
and inexperience of those to whom they have 
been intrusted ; and as long as it is persisted in 
thwarting the females when sitting, in opening 
the shells of the eggs in order to help the pas- 
sage of the tardy chicks, in pressing them, as 
soon as born, to make them eat against their 
will, in leaving them exposed to intense heat or 
cold damp ; so long will their death be the un- 
doubted consequence of such usage in the course 
of a month. It is less trouble to say that the 
bird is difficult to rear, than to acknoAvledge, at 
once, that negligence, unskillfulness, and bar- 
barity were the causes. 

Delicate as they are supposed to be, they can 
find their living in the woods, and feeding on 
acorns, roots, berries, insects, and wild nettle 
seed. It is curious to observe with what adroit- 
ness and certainty they will pounce on the small- 
est bug or fly. The strong propensity of tur- 
keys to perch in the open air and on high places, 
is a sufficient reason for those who rear them to 
attend carefully to this point. Scarcely, in- 
deed, does the red appear, when the fowl shows 
his unconquerable desire to perch in the open 
air, though this can not safely be permitted till 
they are two or three months old. Open sheds 
are consequently best suited to them, with roost- 
ing-bars, fixed as high as convenient from the 
ground, which should be about three times as 
large as for common fowls. 

Pairing. — Some writers say from six to eight 
hens may be allowed to one cock, while others 
assign from ten to twelve. " Your turkey cock," 
says Gervase Markham, " should be a large and 



TURKEYS. 



215 




Hv»Mr.STIO TURKEY. 



stout bird, proud and majestical, for when he 
walketh dejected he is never good." And Mas- 
call says, " He should be passing a year or two 
years old — three years is the most, and too 
much." According to Farmentier, both the 
cock and hen ought to have short legs, a full 
shape, and great vivacity and energy in all their 
actions. For breeding, it is peculiarly neces- 
sary that both should be well formed and in 
healthy condition. 

The plumpness or leanness of the hen, the 
climate or localities, will alone forward or re- 
tard her laying. By feeding and taking proper 
care of her in winter she will be disposed to lay 
earlier in spring, and to begin afresh at the end 
of the summer. Nature seems to have taken 
all the trouble on herself. 

Laying. — In the wild state, about the middle 
of April, when the season is dry, the turkey 
hens begin to look out for a place in which to 
deposit their eggs. In a domestic state, the 
time of laying is usually a month earlier than 
that of the wild turkey. It may readily be seen, 



indeed, when a hen is about to commence lay- 
ing, by her vivacity, and also by her'endeavois 
to secrete herself, and steal away from the ob- 
servation of the keeper. She utters, besides, a 
peculiar note, indicative of her feelings ; and 
when this has once been heard, it can never 
afterward be mistaken. 

The time of laying is almost invariably in the 
morning of every second day, though some hens 
will lay every day, till from fifteen to twenty 
eggs have been laid; in a wild state, more usu- 
ally from ten to fifteen, according to the age of 
the bird ; for a young bird, two or three years 
old, will lay nine, and larger eggs than when 
only one year old. 

During the time of laying, it is advisable to 
confine the cock, at least in the morning, when 
she is laying ; otherwise, if he finds her on the 
nest, he will ill-treat her, drive her away, and 
break her eggs. 

It docs not appear, from Audubon's account, 
that the wild turkey has usually more than one 
brood in the year, unless her ecirs have been 



216 



THE AMERICAN POULTERERS COMPANION. 



carried off or destroyed ; and Buffon says, the 
tame turkey only lays once a year, which is 
wrong; for, in favorable circumstances, when 
well fed and taken care of, the hen turkey will 
lay a second time, toward the end of summer, 
sometimes sooner and sometimes later. 

In the second laying, there are rarely more 
than a dozen eggs ; and in order to have the 
brood from these successful, more than ordinary 
care will be required. 

Hatching. — A turkey hen is one of the most 
steady and inveterate sitters of any known fowl. 
Before she has even completed her laying, she 
shows a wish to sit by unequivocal signs ; she 
clucks like the common fowl, and continues in 
her nest till her breast becomes bare of feath- 
ers. While laying or sitting, she never moves 
when an enemy passes in sight, unless she knows 
she has been discovered, but crouches lower un- 
til he has passed ; hence the difficulty of finding 
them when laying abroad. 

In the domestic state, the instinct of the tur- 
key hen is truly remarkable ; her little artifices 
and tricks to conceal her eggs, and to deceive 
those who might try to discover her nest, ap- 
pear almost dictated by reason ; but what brings 
her back to the rank of a brute, is her manner 
of sitting f for even when her eggs are taken 
away, she will continue to sit on any substance 
whatever, even stones. It is, therefore, a mat- 
ter of consequence that she be satisfied ; for 
sitting without eggs would fatigue her more 
than natural hatching. 

When turkey hens have been left to them- 
selves during their laying, and have chosen a 
nest at a small distance from the house, there 
is hardly any thing to be done, for they will 
leave it with difficulty, and it is even prudent 
not to thwart them, for they generally hatch 
their own brood safely, and the young ones are 
the stronger for it. 

The turkey hen sits from thirty to thirty-two 
days, and, it is said, will continue on the nest 
even until starvation ; and when hatched, she 
is not the most careful mother, nor is she a 
good provider, as she does not scratch for her 
young, like the hen, but leaves them to shift for 
themselves ; but she is very alert to discover 
birds of prey and give timely notice. As the 



young, at the moment of their birth, give no 
signs of seeking their food, and as they are not 
instructed in the least so to do it by the moth- 
er, it appears necessary to admit two or three 
eggs of the common fowl to those of the turkey- 
hen, ten days after sitting, so that the young 
ones may be hatched at the same time ; as the 
common chickens peck and eat as soon as out 
of the shell, they become for turkey chickens 
an example which they imitate, and which de- 
termines them to eat a few hours sooner, which 
is of some use. 

The hen and brood must be housed during 
one month or six weeks, dependent upon the 
state of the weather. The scorching sun and 
the rain are above all hurtful to them ; super- 
fluous moisture, whether external or internal, is 
death to chickens, therefore, all slop victuals 
should be rigorously avoided. The utmost clean- 
liness is necessary, and a dry graveled layer is 
most proper. High places exposed to the east 
or south are those which always agree best with 
chickens, especially when they have a small 
separate j'ard. 

At the Rhode Island State Agricultural Pair, 
Mr. Chedell, of Barrington, exhibited an inter- 
esting turkey cock, that took a notion to try the 
art of incubation. How he succeeded the fol- 
lowing will show : " Last year," says a writer, 
" Mr. Gobbler actually sat on a dozen eggs until 
the chickens were hatched, and then he brought 
them up with all the assiduity of a hen, com- 
bined with the masterly protection which his 
own red throat, sharp and curled spurs so 
amply afford. This year a more economical 
method took his fancy, and instead of spending 
his precious time in hatching, he has deputed 
this duty to the hens, and as soon as a brood 
comes forth he immediately takes charge of 
the chicks, and releases the hens from farther 
responsibility. The hens are again employed in 
sitting, while he takes charge of the chicks and 
anticipates their every want. He goes out ev- 
ery morning and conducts them to good hunt- 
ing-grounds in the woods and fields, where 
grasshoppers, grubs, and other luxurious game, 
afford ample sport for the young. In this way 
he provides entirely for the fowls under his pro- 
tection, so that they cost nothing to keep them." 



TURKEYS. 



217 



Food. — The French, and all foreign writers, 
recommend for their first food, "bread cram- 
bled and soaked in wine." The best food, how- 
ever, which we have found for them, was eggs 
boiled hard and chopped fine ; thick sour milk, 
boiled, which makes a thick curd; the whey is 
separated by putting it into a colander, or coarse 
sieve, and when cold, rubbed fine in the hands, 
and fed to them in small parcels, and often. 
Indian meal wet in the ordinary way is injuri- 
ous to them, until they are several weeks old. 
Chives cut fine and mixed with their food, is 
eaten with great avidity. In case of the chicks 
appearing sickly and the feathers ruffled, indi- 
cating a chill from severity or change of weath- 
er, ground malt, with a little barley-meal, is al- 
lowed, and, by way of medicine, powdered car- 
away or coriander seeds. Boiled meat pulled 
into strings, in running after which the chicks 
have a salutary exercise. It will be borne in 
mind that the above diet is beneficial for ev- 
ery other species of chicks, equally with the 
turkey. 

Water should be given them in very shallow 
vessels, in which they can not wet themselves, 
as this would be very injurious. In order to 
prevent the mother turkey from robbing the 
chicks of their food, they should be fed in a 
separate coop at such a distance from her as to 
be out of her reach. 

Some recommend removing the chicks from 
the mother as they are hatched, but we are not 
of that opinion ; nature seems to be the best 
guide, as they generally keep under the mother, 
as animal warmth is, without doubt, infinitely 
more necessary to them than food. It is well 
known that birds, on leaving their shells, quit a 
warmth of sixty or seventy degrees', and that 
they often perish, sooner or later, on account 
of the difference of temperature through which 
they pass so suddenly ; and being so exces- 
sively delicate, they should not be taken from 
warmth and repose ; therefore in the beginning 
of his existence, the new-born chick remains 
under the wings of his mother, where he finds 
the warmth nearly equal to that he had in the 
egg ; by removing him from this shelter, to 
handle and feed him, he passes too suddenly 
from heat to cold, from rest to exercise ; and 



this sudden change, so hurtful to grown ani- 
mals, becomes more especially so to the turkey- 
chicken, where natural delicacy and want of 
feathers render him more sensitive to the tran- 
sitions. 

When young, they should be kept in a warm 
and dry place ; and when introduced into the 
open air, it should be by degrees, and choose 
the finest days. They should not be suffered 
to go abroad in the morning till the sun has 
dried the dew, and they should be shut up be- 
fore the fall of the evening damps. On their 
return at evening they should be fed, except in 
harvest time, when they have gathered enough 
in the fields. 

The mother leads them with the same solici- 
tude that the hen leads her chickens ; she warms 
them under her wings with the same affection, 
and protects them with the same courage. It 
would seem that tenderness for her offspring 
gives quickness to her sight; she discovers a 
bird of prey at a prodigious distance, when it is 
yet invisible to every other eye. As soon as 
she perceives her dreaded enemy, she vents her 
fears by a scream that spreads terror through 
the whole brood ; each little turkey seeks refuge 
under a bush, or squats in the grass, and the 
mother keeps them in that situation by her 
cries, so long as danger is impending; but when 
her apprehensions are removed, she informs 
them by a different note, and calls them from 
their concealment to assemble around her. 

Young turkeys are interesting, for they have 
different tones, and different inflections of voice, 
according to their age, their sex, and the vari- 
ous passions by which they are influenced ; their 
pace is slow, and their flight tardy. 

At two periods of their lives turkeys are very 
apt to die ; viz., about the third day after they 
are hatched, or when they throw out what is 
called the "red head," which they do at about 
six weeks old. It is a very critical period in 
the life of a turkey — much more so than the 
period of moulting; the food must, therefore, 
be increased, and rendered more nutritious by 
adding boiled eggs, wheatcn flour, bruised hemp 
seed, or a few bruised beans. 

Turkeys are the most tender and difficult to 
rear of any of our domestic fowls ; but witli due 



218 



THE AMEKICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



care and attention, which, rightly considered, in 
all things gives the least trouble, they may be 
produced or multiplied with little or no loss ; 
and the same may be said with all truth of the 
rest of our domestic fowls and animals in gen- 
eral, the losses and vexations annually deplored 
arising almost entirely from ignorance and care- 
lessness united hand in hand. Turkeys as well 
as geese, under a judicious system, may be ren- 
dered an object of a certain degree of conse- 
quence to the farmer. 

Of the, fattening of Turkeys. — It is only when 
the cold comes, and when turkeys are about six 
months old, that they should be fed with better 
and more plentiful food, in order to increase 
their size and plumpness for market. Indian 
corn, ground barley, wheat, also rice and other 
articles, used to fatten common fowls, are con- 
sidered best for turkeys. Their weight, when 
well fattened and carried to market, should av- 
erage twelve pounds ; their living and dead 
weight is as eighteen to twelve pounds. 

Cobbett says, "As to fattening turkeys, the 
best way is never to let them get poor. Barley 
meal, mixed with skimmed milk, and given to 
them fresh, will make them fat in a short time. 
Boiled potatoes mixed with Indian meal, will 
furnish a change of sweet food which they rel- 
ish much, and of which they may eat as much as 
they can. As with others, the food of this bird 
must be kept clean, and the utmost care taken 
not to give them on the morrow the remains of 
the mixture of the preceding day; because if 
the weather is warm, it will sour, which might 
displease them." 

In some sections, in order that they may all 
get fat more expeditiously, some professional 
poulterers cram their turkeys, which, with the 
barbarous practice of depriving them of sight, 
and light, and motion, by confining them in 
narrow inclosures, is so revolting to humanity, 
that it is to be hoped that the horrid custom is 
but seldom practiced, in this country at least. 
The very idea is enough to disgust and cloy the 
appetite of the most consummate epicure ! 

There are said to be some advantages attend- 
ing this mode of feeding turkeys ; but it is, to 
say the least, unnatural and cruel; and there- 
fore, fattening in freedom, and as they naturally 



choose, is a more certain way of procuring pure 
and healthy birds, free from all plethoric dis- 
ease. 

We give the following, which was published 
in the National Recorder, more for its singularity 
than in the belief of its usefulness : " In the win- 
ter of 1818-19, a gentleman in this city made 
the following experiment. He placed a turkey 
in an inclosure about four feet long, two feet 
wide, and three or four feet high. He exclud- 
ed as much light as he could without preventing 
a circulation of air, and fed the turkey with soft 
brick broken to pieces, and with charcoal also 
broken, and with ten grains of corn per day. 
Fresh water was daily supplied. The box or 
coop in which the turkey was placed he always 
locked up with his own hands, and. is perfectly 
confident that no person interrupted the experi- 
ment. At the end of one month he invited a 
number of his neighbors, among others, two 
physicians. The turkey, now very large and 
heavy, was killed and opened by the physicians, 
and was found to be filled up with fat. The 
gizzard and entrails were dissected, and nothing 
was found but a residuum of charcoal and brick. 
To conclude the examination satisfactorily, the 
turkey was eaten and found to be good. 

"The circumstance which induced him to 
make the experiment is a very curious one. 
One of his neighbors informed him, that being 
driven from the city by the fever of 1793, his 
family recollected that some fowls that had lived 
in a kind of loft over his workshop had been 
forgotten in the hurry of their removal, and 
would certainly be starved. They were absent 
six or eight weeks, and on the retiring of the 
pestilence returned. To their great astonish- 
ment, the fowls were not only alive, but very 
fat, although there was nothing but charcoal and 
shavings that they could have eaten, and some 
water".±hat Jiad-been left in the trough of a 
grindstone, had supplied them with drink." • 

Fattening Turkeys on Charcoal. — Much has 
been published of late in our agricultural jour- 
nals in relation to the alimentary properties of 
charcoal. It has been repeatedly asserted that 
domestic fowls may be fattened on it without 
any other food, and that, too, in a shorter time 
than on the most nutritive grains. " I have re- 



TURKEYS. 



219 




THE HONDURAS TURKEY. 



cently made an experiment," says a writer in 
the Germantown Telegraph, " and must say, that 
the result surprised me, as I had always been 
rather skeptical. 

" Four turkeys were confined in a pen, and 
fed on meal, boiled potatoes, and oats. Four 
others, of the same brood, were also at the same 
time confined in another pen, and fed daily on 
the same articles, but with one pint of very finely 
pulverized charcoal, mixed with their food — 
mixed meal and boiled potatoes. They had 
also a plentiful supply of broken charcoal in 
their pen. The eight were killed on the same 
day, and there was a difference of one and a half 
pounds each in favor of the fowls which had 
been supplied with the charcoal, they being 
much the fattest, and the meat greatly superior 
in point of tenderness and flavor." 

Since the publication of the fourth edition, 
the author has received the following very in- 
teresting and valuable suggestions from Colonel 
Wade Hampton, of South Carolina : 



"I have read your treatise on poultry with 
much interest, and have derived from its peru- 
sal very many valuable suggestions. 

" On the subject of rearing turkeys, I venture 
to make you a suggestion or two. As soon as 
they are removed from the nest, immerse them 
in a strong decoction of tobacco, taking care to 
prevent the fluid from entering the mouth or 
eye of the chick, and repeat the operation when- 
ever they appear to droop. Corn-bread, soaked 
in pepper-tea, is the best diet for them, after 
they are two or three days old, that I have ever 
tried. They are particularly liable to chills, 
which nothing so effectually cures as the pepper. 
A tablespoonful of Cayenne pepper to a quart 
of boiling water is about the rate at which it is 
used." 

THE HONDURAS TURKEY. 

Beautiful as is the common wild turkey of 
this country, it is said to be far surpassed by 
the Honduras turkey, which rivals the peacock 



220 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 




THE URUSII TURKEY. 



in Its gorgeous dress, effulgent with its golden 
bronze, steel-blue, emerald green, and velvet 
black. A specimen of this rare bird is now 
said to be in the Paris Museum. Of the habits 
of the species, which appears to inhabit the 
vast forests of Honduras, nothing is known. 
The specimen in question was one of those 
seen by a crew employed in cutting wood, and 
captured alive. It died after it arrived in the 
Thames, in consequence of an accident. 

Two species only are known to naturalists, 
namely, the common wild turkey (Meleagris 
galopavo) of North America, the origin of our 
domestic stock, and the Honduras turkey (M. 
Ocellata), figured on page 219, a bird which, 
in the metallic splendor and varying tints of its 
plumage, outrivals the peacock, if not every ten- 
ant of the air. But except, perhaps, in some 
of the dense untrodden forests of Yucatan and 
of Central America, from Cape Honduras to 
the tenth degree of north latitude this bird 
might be sought for in vain. Of its peculiar 
habits and manners nothing is positively known. 
We may suppose, however, that it resembles, to 
a great degree, the common wild turkey of the 
north. Could it be domesticated in our South- 
ern States, what a splendid acquisition should 
we have to our poultry-yard ! 



THE BRUSH TURKEY. 

This bird is a native of Australia and the Pa- 
puan Islands, and in various parts of New South 
Wales. In the dense brushwood of Manning 
and Clarence it is plentiful. It was found in 
the scrubby gullies and sides of the lower hills 
that branch off from the great range into the in- 
terior ; on the Brezi range, to the north of the 
Liverpool Plains, and was abundant on all the 
hills on both sides of the Naomi. It is gregari- 
ous, moving about in small companies, like many 
other gallinaceous birds ; but the most remark- 
able circumstance connected with the economy 
of this bird is its nidification, for it does not 
hatch its own eggs by incubation. The bird is 
a thorough chemist, and constructs for itself a 
patent artificial incubator, on truly chemical 
principles, by which it hatches its eggs in a sci- 
entific manner, without the tedious operation 
of sitting, to which other birds submit. It is a 
believer in fermentation and co-operation ; for 
when the breeding season arrives, a number of 
these birds enter into copartnership, as it were, 
and collect together a huge heap of decaying 
vegetables as the place of deposit of its eggs ; 
thus making a hot-bed, arising from the decom- 
position of the collected matter, by the heat of 



TURKEYS. 



221 




which the young are hatched. Mr. Gould de- 
scribes this heap or mound as the result of sev- 
eral weeks' collection by the birds previous to 
the period of laying, as varying in quantity from 
two to four cart-loads, and as of a perfectly 
pyramidal form. This mound, he states, is not 
the work of a single pair of birds, but is the re- 
sult of the united labor of many; the same site 
appeared to Mr. Gould to be resorted to for sev- 
eral years in succession, from the great size and 
entire decomposition of the lower part, the birds 
adding a fresh supply of materials on each occa- 
sion previous to laying. 

"The mode," says Mr. Gould, "in which the 
materials composing these mounds are collect- 
ed is equally singular, the bird never using its 
bill, but always grasping a quantity in its foot, 
throwing it backward, as represented in the en- 
graving, to one common centre, and thus clear- 
ing the surface of the ground surrounding the 
hot-bed for a considerable distance of every 
leaf and blade of grass, every scrap of vegeta- 
tion being added to assist fermentation. The 
heap being accomplished, and time allowed for 
sufficient heat to germinate, the eggs are de- 
posited, not side by side, as is ordinarily the case, 
but planted at regular intervals, at the distance 



of nine or twelve inches from each other, and 
buried nearly an arm's length beneath the sur- 
face, perfectly upright, with the large end up- 
ward. They are covered up as they are laid, 
and allowed to remain until hatched. 

" Some of the natives state that the females 
are constantly in the neighborhood of the heap 
about the time the young are likely to be hatch- 
ed, and frequently uncover and cover them up 
again, apparently for the purpose of assisting 
those that may have appeared ; while others 
have informed me that the eggs are merely de- 
posited and the young allowed to force their 
way unassisted. In all probability, as Nature 
has adopted this mode of reproducing, she has 
also furnished the tender birds with the power 
of sustaining themselves from the earliest pe- 
riod ; and the great size of the egg would equal- 
ly lead to this conclusion, since in so large a 
space it is reasonable to suppose that the bird 
would be much more developed than is usually 
found in eggs of smaller dimensions. In far- 
ther confirmation of this point, I may add, that 
in searching for eggs in one of these mounds, I 
discovered the remains of a young bird, appar- 
ently just excluded from the shell, and which 
was clothed with feathers, not with down, as is 



222 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



usually the case. The upright position of the 
egg tends to strengthen the opinion that they 
are never disturbed after being deposited, as it 
is well -known that the eggs of birds which are 
placed horizontally are frequently turned dur- 
ing incubation." 

It is affirmed, both by the natives and settlers 
living near their haunts, that it is not an un- 
usual event to obtain nearly a bushel of eggs at 
one time from a single mound, and they are 
said to be delicious eating. 

Mr. Gould also relates that these birds, while 
stalking about the wood, frequently utter a loud 
clucking noise ; and in various parts of the bush 
he observed depressions in the earth, which the 
natives informed him were made by these birds 
in dusting themselves. The stomach is stated 
by Mr. Gould to be extremely muscular; and 
he found the crop of one which he dissected 
filled with seeds, berries, and a few insects. 

When the Brush Turkey is disturbed, it ei- 
ther runs through the tangled underwood with 
singular rapidity, or springs upon a low branch 
of some tree, and reaches the summit by a suc- 
cession of leaps from branch to branch. This 
latter peculiarity renders it an easy prey to the 
sportsman. The composure with which these 
birds sit to be shot at must, as Mr. Gould ob- 
serves, lead to an early extinction of the race ; 
an event, he remarks, much to be regretted, 
since, independently of its being an interesting 



bird for the aviary, its flesh is extremely deli- 
cate, tender, and juicy. There is no doubt that 
this species may be domesticated, and it would 
make a noble addition to the denizens of the 
poultry-yard which enrich our homesteads and 
our tables. 

The Brush Turkey (Tallegalla) is not a very 
striking bird in appearance. The beak is ro- 
bust and convex ; the wings are moderate ; the 
tail ample ; the head and neck furnished with 
short hair-like feathers ; the cheeks naked ; and 
the front of the neck presents a carunculated 
naked skin, or sort of wattle, reminding us of 
that of the turkey — hence its name. In the 
adult male the whole of the upper surface, its 
wings and tail, is of a blackish-brown at the 
base, becoming silvery-gray at the ends. The 
skin of the head and neck is a deep pink, verg- 
ing on red, and thinly sprinkled with short 
hair-like blackish-brown or dingy feathers ; wat- 
tles bright-yellow, shading off into red where it 
unites with the red of the neck; bill black; 
irides and feet brown. 

The female is about one-fourth less than the 
male in size, but so closely the same in color as 
to render a separate description unnecessary. 
She also possesses the wattle, but not to so great 
an extent. Size about that of a hen turkey. 
In general habits this turkey is nothing remark- 
able ; it is in the reproduction of the species 
that its anomalous proceedings are manifested. 



THE PEA-FOWL. 



223 




THE PEACOCK. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE PEA-EOWL. 



We are not going to narrate the natural his- 
tory of the peacock. It has been done over and 
over again ; and although proverbial philosophy 
has taught us that "a good story can not be 
told too often," another equally wise saw, with 
the sharpest possible teeth, has assured us that 
"too much of one thing is good for nothing." 
All we propose to do is to gossip about the pea- 
cock. 

Oh ! a gay gallant is the peacock as he struts 
about in the morning sun, first one side, then 
the other, proud of his bright, beautiful coat, 
resplendent in the light ; his sharp eyes looking 



about as if he courted praise and felt that he 
deserved it; his form so graceful, as his long 
tail sweeps the ground like the train of a count- 
ess, or as he sometimes stands before his less- 
endowed brother, and spreads that tail of his in 
a semicircle, all bright and gay, gleaming with 
its black discs and circles of gold. 

Proudly, indeed, the peacock moves along, as 
though he were the very king of birds ; proudly 
he extends that glittering tail of his, brightly 
jeweled, as it seems in the glory of the sun- 
shine. But he is only beautiful to the eye. 
What poet can sing in praise of the peacock ? 



22i 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



Surely the turtle-dove, with its plain Quaker 
garb and endearing manners, is far more wor- 
thy of the poet's song. Pleasant is it to listen 
to the cuckoo, the plain song-cuckoo of Bottom 
the weaver — the beauteous stranger of the grove, 
the messenger of spring. But the peacock has 
no other recommendation than that of a fair 
exterior, a gay and gorgeous plumage. Says 
Young : 

"How rich the peacock! what bright glories run 
From plume to plume, and vary in the sun ! 
He proudly spreads them to the golden ray, 
Gives all his colors, and adorns the day ; 
With conscious state the spacious round displays, 
And slowly moves around, a waving blaze." 

Oh ! a noble fellow is the peacock ; his small 
head crowned with a crest of feathers, choice 
and straight; his neck long and slender,- taper- 
ing gracefully from the breast upward ; his back 
and wings of a light ash color, mingled with 
black ; his head, and neck, and breast of a 
greenish-blue, with a gloss which, in the sun- 
shine, appears exceedingly brilliant; his eyes 
set between two stripes of white ; the feathers 
of his tail of a changeable mixture of green, 
blue, purple, and gold. Standing thus before 
us, he is one of the most beautiful objects im- 
aginable. 

This most magnificent and beautiful of all 
the feathered race is supposed to have been 
originally a native of India ; but they have long 
been introduced into Europe and this country 
as ornaments to the mansions of gentlemen 
farmers. Peacocks are said to be at present 
found in a state of freedom upon the islands of 
Java and Ceylon. The earliest mention we 
can trace of the peacock is in the Book of Job. 
The history of King Solomon is an evidence of 
the antiquity of the peacock, and also the choice 
of the goddess Juno, who selected this for her 
favorite bird, from its gorgeous and brilliant 
plumage and majesty of demeanor. It is as- 
serted by the ancient writers that the first pea- 
cock was honored with a public exhibition at 
Athens ; the rumor of the arrival spread all 
over Greece ; from distant parts the rich and 
the noble took their journey to the classical 
city, to pay handsomely to be spectators of that 
beautiful phenomenon and wonderful paragon 



of the feathered race. Going to look at the 
peacock was not only an expensive, but an ar- 
istocratical entertainment. How greatly ad- 
mired was the magnificent bird ! How, in be- 
holding the gay plumage, the people would list- 
en and wonder as the showman of the day in- 
formed them that the black and ill-formed legs 
of the birds were the objects of aversion even to 
the birds themselves, and they were never so 
happy as when they spread their gorgeous tails 
and felt the power of their appearance exercised 
on the gay groups of sight-seers before them. 

At a later period, the Grecian ladies had the 
tail-feathers of peacocks arranged in the semi- 
circular sweep, and used them as fans. Bright 
and beautiful fans they were, too, with the brill- 
iant colors and the glittering gold shining in 
the light, and the fashion contributed greatly to 
the picturesque costume of those ancient dames. 

"There are," says Goldsmith, "various de- 
scriptions of peacocks, some of which are white, 
others crested ; that which is called the Pea- 
cock of Thibet is the most beautiful of the feath- 
ered creation, containing in its plumage all the 
most vivid colors, red, blue, yellow, and green, 
disposed in almost artificial order, as if merely 
to please the eye of the beholder." 

Characteristics. — The crow, or, rather, the 
scream, of the peacock is loud, harsh, and dis- 
agreeable. It is only heard during the breed- 
ing-season, and it is one of those rural sounds 
which proclaim the approach of summer. This, 
together with the frequent appearance of the 
cock in "full glory," exhibiting his splendid 
train, are sure signs that the business of nidifi- 
cation is at hand. The hen has always much 
apparent listlessness in her manner; for even 
when looking about for a proper place to de- 
posit her eggs, she makes no sign that she is so 
engaged, but walks leisurely about, as if she 
were looking for food. She is, however, seek- 
ing the most private corner she can find, at 
some distance from the concourse of houses of 
the other poultry. If a wood or shrubbery be 
near, she will choose a place under a bush, and 
generally among dry fallen leaves. The nest is 
generally made of sticks and leaves rudely thrown 
together, and contains from twelve to fifteen 
eggs. 



THE PEA-FOWL. 



The best food for young pea-fowls are ant- 
eggs, as they are called, barley-meal paste mixed 
with sweet curd, and hard-boiled eggs chopped 
fine ; when grown up, they live on any kind of 
grain. The young do not attain their full plu- 
mage until the third year, and only the males 
possess the vivid tints and lengthened train, the 
female being a comparatively ordinary bird. 
A white variety of the peacock is not uncom- 
mon. In this case, the eyes of the train feath- 
ers are slightly marked with a kind of neutral 
tint. 

But however beautiful may be the outward 
form of this gaudy bird, its disposition is of a 
very different character from its plumage; it is 
said to " have the plumage of an angel, the voice 
of a devil, and the stomach of a thief." Its loud, 
harsh voice grates unpleasantly on the ear ; while 



its insatiable gluttony and spirit of depredation 
more than counterbalance the beauty of its ex- 
ternal form. Exclusive of the consideration of 
ornament to the mansion, the peacock is useful 
for the destruction of all kinds of reptiles ; but, 
at the same time, some are said to be vicious, 
and apt to tear to pieces and devour young 
chicks and ducklings suffered to come within 
their reach, on account of which we discarded 
them from our premises. 

Peacocks are not worth the attention of the 
farmer on the score of profit, but they may be 
made useful to keep watch ; as they will roost 
on the highest chimney, the top of the barn, or 
any elevated place, and from it they will issue 
their loud and piercing cry on the approach of 
any stranger or enemy, taking the place of the 
watch-doc 



226 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 




THE GUINEA-FOWL. 



CHAPTER XIV 

THE GUINEA-FOWL. 



This is the Numidia Meleagris of ornitholo- 
gists, which received the name of Guinea-fowl 
on account of its being brought from the Guinea 
Coast of Africa, and was anciently confounded 
with the turkey, and is supposed to have been 
introduced soon after the Europeans had visited 
the western coast of Africa, in their voyages to 
India, by the Cape of Good Hope. There is no 
doubt, from the descriptions given by Columella 
and Varro, that the Guinea-fowl was reared on 
the farms of the Romans as early as the com- 
mencement of the Christian era, and that it was 
first made known to them during the wars with 
Africa. "The African hen," says Columella, 
" which most persons call the Numidian, bears 
upon her head a bright-red helmet and crest." 

The Guinea-fowl has not only been diffused 
through Europe, at a very early date, but trans- 
ported into America. 

In the Middle Ages we lose all trace of it ; no 
writers of those times appear to notice it ; but 



in the early part of the 18th century it was tol- 
erably common in England, and is now com- 
pletely naturalized. 

Anderson, Dampier, and other travelers in 
Africa, have observed the wild Guinea-fowl in 
different parts of the continent; but, as about 
six species are known, we can not be certain 
which of them is intended. 

The common Guinea-fowl appears to be dis- 
persed through an extensive range of Africa, 
frequenting low, humid situations, and the banks 
of rivers and marshes. It is eminently grega- 
rious, assembling in large flocks, which wander 
about in the day in search of food ; as evening- 
approaches, they seek the branches of trees, and 
roost crowded together. It is of a restless, wan- 
dering disposition, which does not leave them 
in captivity. It will stray for miles from the 
farm to which it belongs, and it often happens 
that a long-missed female will make her ap- 
pearance with a young brood attending her. 



THE GUINEA-FOWL. 



227 



In close confinement, the female rarely hatches 
her eggs, the want of freedom interfering with 
her natural instincts. Pew birds, indeed, are 
more recluse and shy during the time of incu- 
bation, or more cautious in concealing their 
nest. It is generally made among dense brush- 
wood, or in similar retreats. The number of 
eggs varies from twelve to twenty. They are 
smaller than those of the common fowl, and of 
a pale yellowish-red, minutely dotted with dark 
points. 

There are several varieties of the Guinea- 
fowl, such as the white, the spotted, the Mada- 
gascar, and the crested. Charlevoix pretends 
that a wild race of these birds is found in St. 
Domingo and others of the West India Islands, 
which is said to have been imported from 
Guinea. 

The Guinea-fowl differs from all other poul- 
try in its being difficult to distinguish the male 
from the female ; the chief difference being in 
the color of the wattles, which are more of a red 
hue in the male, and more tinged with blue in 
the female. The male also has more of a state- 
ly strut. 

From the earliest times to the present, it has 
been no great favorite with poultry-keepers, and 
but few have patronized them ; and is one of 
those unfortunate beings which, from having 
been occasionally guilty of a few trifling faults, 
has gained a much worse reputation than it 
really deserves, as if it were the most ill-be- 
haved bird in creation ; whereas it is useful, or- 
namental, and interesting during life, and when 
dead, if young, its flesh is tender, very supe- 
rior, resembling in flavor our partridge, and a 
desirable addition to our dinners at a time 
when all other poultry is scarce and out of 
season. 

"We have heard complaints," say the au- 
thors of the "Poultry Book," "of the large pro- 
portion of ' bad,' that is, unfertile, eggs, which 
are laid by them ; but this occurs only because 
those who keep them are ignorant of the fact 
that they pair like our domestic pigeons, and 
that very rarely indeed does the male bird prove 
unfaithful to his mate. This is no drawback 
upon their being kept for the purpose of profit, 
since the male of the second year is excellent 



for the table, and should be slaughtered early 
in the spring, to make way for a youthful suc- 
cessor." 

Various attempts have been made to have- 
the Guinea-fowl wild in England. In the north 
and in Ireland they all perished during the win- 
ter, and in the south of England we have been 
informed of an instance where they were obliged 
to be destroyed to prevent the entire driving 
away of other feathered game, which they were 
rapidly effecting. 

Description. — The beak is short, stout, slight- 
ly curved, and whitish, having a warted bluish- 
red membrane at its base; wattles fleshy and 
scarlet ; eye black, prominent, and bright ; eye- 
brow very distinctly marked and arched; head 
and neck covered with downy feathers, like 
those of the Silk fowl; forehead surmounted 
by a long casque ; tail short, and pitching down- 
ward like that of the quail ; legs blue, with a 
tinge, in places, of flesh-color. The plumage, 
though not decorated with rich and dazzling 
colors, is singularly beautiful, being spangled 
all over with white spots, varying in size from 
that of a pea to infinite minuteness, on a bluish- 
black ground. The weight of the male very 
slightly exceeds that of the female; and, in- 
deed, the hens of the same brood have been 
known to outweigh the cocks. 

The Guinea-fowl is a lively, restless, turbu- 
lent bird, that dislikes confinement in the same 
place, and, being very pugnacious, contrives to 
become master of the poultry-yard, domineer- 
ing over the fowls, and boldly attacking even 
the fiercest turkey cock ; for, though much small- 
er in size, it gains the ascendency over them by 
the mere dint of petulent pugnacity. 

Its rapid mode of running, its short wings, 
and pendent tail, its short flight when forced to 
take wing, remind us of the partridge, which it 
also much resembles in the contour of its body. 
It is also one of those birds which, by wallowing 
in the dust, rid themselves of vermin. They 
also scrape or scratch the ground, like the com- 
mon fowl. 

The desirability of having the males and hens 
in similar numbers renders the inquiry import- 
ant, how to distinguish the one from the other. 
There is but one unerring characteristic, and 



228 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 




^^^P*^ 



CKESTED GUINEA-FOWL. 



that is, the hen only utters the well-known and 
everlasting cry, or clamor, of "Come back." 
The note, or wail, for it is mournful, of the 
male bird is totally different ; he has somewhat 
larger wattles than the hen, and runs on tip-toe 
with a mincing gait, which the hen never imi- 
tates ; but her " Come back" cry is the only un- 
mistakable mark of distinction. 

Of all the tenants of our poultry-yard none 
produce chickens so pretty and interesting, when 
first hatched, as the Guinea-fowl. Their orange- 
red beaks and legs, their zebra-striped down, 
and their extreme sprightliness, render them 
most peculiarly attractive. They are so strong 
and active, when first hatched, as to appear not 
to require the attention really necessary to rear 
them. Almost as soon as they are dry from 
the moisture of the egg, they will peck each 
other's toes, as if supposing them to be worms, 
will scramble with each other for a worm, and 
will domineer over any little chicken that may 
happen to have been hatched in the same clutch 
with themselves. No one, who did not know, 
would guess, from their appearance, of what 
species of bird they were the offspring. 

The chicks require feeding as soon as they 
are dried after escaping from the shell, and 
should never be without a supply of food after- 



ward until they are of a size permitting them to 
have their liberty. 

Under a shed in a warm corner of the garden, 
with a southern aspect, is the best place for the 
coop under which the mother is to be confined ; 
for cold winds and rain are very destructive to 
them. In the garden, the chicks find that large 
amount of insect food which is so promotive of 
their growth and health. In addition, they 
should have eggs boiled hard, and chopped very 
fine, mixed with Indian meal, oat-meal, and bar- 
ley meal, millet, and curd, all separately, and 
on different days, for the sake of change of diet. 
Change of food is one great means of promoting 
the health and growth of all poultry. Pure 
clean water, in shallow vessels, should be kept 
constantly before them. In fact, the whole man- 
agement of both young and old may be precise- 
ly the same as that of turkeys. 

By their continued clamor and watchful na- 
ture they are useful in protecting the other poul- 
try from the hovering hawks — for which reason, 
if no other, a few should always be kept in the 
poultry-yard. 

THE CRESTED GUINEA-FOWL. 

The Crested Guinea-fowl is less in size than 
the common species just described ; the head 



THE GUINEA-FOWL. 



229 



and neck are bare, of a dull blue, shaded with 
red, and instead of the horny casque, it has an 
ample crest of hairy-like disunited feathers, of 
a bluish-black, reaching as far forward as the 
nostrils, but in general turned backward. The 
general plumage, except the quills, is of a blu- 
ish-black, covered with small grayish spots, 
sometimes four and sometimes six on each 



feather. Quills yellow-brown ; edges of the 
secondaries pure white. 

We are not aware of any of this variety or 
species of Guinea-fowl ever being domesticated 
or introduced into this country ; of course Ave 
know nothing of its habits or qualities. As a 
rare bird, we hope to see it introduced into our 
poultry-yards. 




230 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 




MUTE SWANS. 



CHAPTER XV. 

AQUATIC FOWLS. 



THE WHITE SWAN. 

At the head of this class of hirds may justly 
he placed the stately and majestic Swan. Next 
to the peacock on the land, the swan is the 
most noble and elegant fowl on the water. 
Though they are seldom found on any farms in 
this country, and are not in request as food, 
they are well worth the notice of every one hav- 
ing a pond or an inclosed part of a creek, to en- 
liven and beautify the scenery by a small family 
of swans. 

Every person that has visited Eairmount, 
Philadelphia, must recollect the beautiful swan 
that floats silently and majestically on the bo- 
som of the little pond at its base. Its beautiful 
plumage of pure white, black legs, feet, and 
bill; its beautiful curved neck and graceful 
movements, could not escape the notice of any 
one. 

The antiquity of this stately bird, the " silent 
swan," is conspicuous in the pages of history 



and poetry. The prototype of the domesticated 
breed has been probably lost in the lapse of 
time, "since the wild swans," says Mowbray, 
" of all countries, differ essentially, both in plu- 
mage and organic structure, from the tame. 
The longevity of the swan seems to equal, if 
not exceed, that of any other animal, as it is 
said to live three centuries." 

"The goose, the swan, and the eagle," says 
Boswell, "are well known to be the longest 
lived birds. Of the former, it is comparatively 
easy to discover the precise age ; of the third, 
from its very nature, it is clearly impossible ; 
and of the second, from its temporary overpow- 
ering propensity to change situations, it is very 
difficult. The place of an old swan may be 
supplied by a younger one, and may still, from 
their similarity, be considered the same." 

Besides the tame swan, there are said to be 
three European varieties. Of these one has 
been recently characterized ; it is allied to the 
tame swan, but instead of the legs, toes, and 



AQUATIC FOWLS. 



231 



web being black, as in the latter, they are of a 
pale ashy gray. The cygnets are white. Mr. 
Yarrell, the first discoverer of this species (of 
which several individuals are living, and have 
bred in the garden of the Zoological Society), 
observes, that this species has been known to 
him for some years past, as an article of com- 
merce among London dealers in birds, who re- 
ceive it from the Baltic, and distinguish it by 
the name of the Polish swan. In several in- 
stances, these swans had produced young in this 
country, and the cygnets when hatched were 
pure white, and did not at any age assume the 
brown color borne for the first two years by the 
young of all the other species of swan. 

"During the severe winter of 1837-8, flocks 
of the swan were seen pursuing a southern 
course along the line of our northeast coast, 
from Scotland to the mouth of the Thames, 
and several specimens were obtained. One 
flock of thirty, and several smaller flocks, were 
seen on the Medway. The skull of this species 
differs in certain points from that of the tame 
swan, according to Peleren, who has published 
a paper on the subject in the 'Magazine of 
Natural History,' April, 1839. Of the two re- 
maining swans, one is the wild swan, Hooper, 
or Whistling Swan, a native of the whole north- 
ern hemisphere, breeding on the borders of the 
arctic circle, and migrating southward in win- 
ter. In America, the emigration of this swan 
is bounded by Hudson's Bay on the north, and 
extends southward as far as Louisiana and the 
Carolinas. It extends its winter visits in Eu- 
rope and Asia as far as the warmer latitudes, 
and passes into Egypt. The windpipe of this 
swan is remarkable for a loop which passes 
into the substance of the keel of the breast- 
bone." — Penny Magazine. 

The last European species is Bewick's swan, 
which has been confounded with the Hooper, 
but which, as Mr. Yarrell has demonstrated, is 
a distinct species. Like the preceding, it is a 
native of the high northern regions, migrating 
south in winter. Its windpipe is of smaller 
calibre than that of the Hooper, and passes 
far more deeply into the keel of the breast- 
bone. 

"The tame swan," says Dickson, "is very 



different from the wild swan which are some- 
times seen in England, though by no means 
common." 

" The tame or mute swan," says a writer in 
the Penny Magazine, "is abundant on the 
Thames, each pair having their exclusive range 
or district, at least during the breeding season. 
The nest, in the formation of which both male 
and female labor, is made on the banks, among 
reeds or osiers, on one of the osier islands. It 
consists of a mass of sticks or twigs, raised suf- 
ficiently high to prevent its being overflowed by 
any rise of the water." 

The swan feeds like the goose, and has the 
same familiarity with its keepers, kindly and 
eagerly receiving bread which is offered, al- 
though it is a bird of courage equal to its ap- 
parent pride, and both the male and female la- 
bor hard in forming a nest of water plants, long 
grass, and sticks, generally in some retired spot ; 
and they are then very dangerous to approach, 
their size and strength enabling them to break 
a man's limb with a stroke of their wing. The 
hen begins to lay in February, producing an egg 
every other day, until she has deposited seven 
or eight, on which she sits six weeks. Buffon 
says it is nearly two months before the young 
are excluded. Swans' eggs are much larger 
than those of the goose, white, and with a hard 
and somewhat tuberous shell. The cygnets are 
ash-colored when they first quit the shell, and 
for some time after ; indeed, they do not change 
their color, nor begin to moult their plumage, 
until twelve weeks old, nor assume their perfect 
glossy whiteness until advanced in their second 
year. 

Swans can not be made to thrive without 
abundance of water to swim in, and clear water 
is to be preferred to that which is muddy. 

The swan is found in various parts of North 
America. Here this noble bird is seen floating 
near the shore in flocks of some two or three 
hundred, white as the driven snow, and from 
time to time emitting fine sonorous and occa- 
sionally melodious notes so loud that they may 
be heard, on a still evening, two or three miles. 
There are two kinds, so called from their re- 
spective notes ; the one the trumpeter, and the 
other the whooper; the former is the largest,. 



232 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 




THE WHITE SWAN. 



These birds are sagacious and wary, and de- 
pend more on sight than on the sense of 
smell. 

It is doubtful whether the swan could be kept 
through the winter north of New York. Our 
winters are too severe for them, and it is neces- 
sary for them to have water to resort to, suffi- 
cient for them to swim in, in winter. Mr. Pren- 
tice, of Albany, imported a pair from England, 
a few years since, and placed them in artificial 
ponds supplied from springs, but they did not 
do well, and finally died. 

Our readers will probably remember to have 
seen, a few years ago, a pair of these splendid 
birds sporting in the basin of the Bowling Green, 
at the foot of Broadway, New York. When 
we saw them, they had not recovered from their 
confinement in cages, and looked rather rough ; 
still they added much to the beauty of the 
scene. 

A very interesting account of "a weather- 
wise swan," we find in an English paper, which 
we transcribe : " This swan, the property of 
Lord Braybrooke, which was eighteen or nine- 
teen years old, had brought up many broods, 
and was highly valued by the neighbors. She 



exhibited, some eight or nine days past, one of 
the most remarkable instances of the power of 
instinct ever recorded. She was sitting on four 
or five eggs, and was observed to be very busy 
in collecting weeds, grass, etc., to raise her nest. 
A farming man was ordered to take down half 
a load of haulm, with which she most indus- 
triously raised her nest and the eggs two feet 
and a half. That very night there came down 
a tremendous fall of rain, which flooded all the 
malt shops and did great damage. Man made 
no preparation — the bird did. Instinct prevail- 
ed over reason — her eggs were above, and only 
just above the water." 

In the Appendix to Brown's " Poultry- Yard," 
we find the following, communicated by the 
late Samuel Allen: "It has been said that the 
common swan will not breed in this country, in 
consequence of the variableness of our climate. 
But this is an error, probably founded on igno- 
rance of their habits, and the mode of their 
propagation ; for they have been successfully 
bred for a few years past by Mr. Roswell L. 
Colt, of Paterson, New Jersey, who has, by-the- 
by, a fine pond and every other accommodation 
I necessary for rearing them. 



AQUATIC FOWLS. 



233 



"Having written to Mr. Colt, a few days 
since, for information on this subject, I have 
just received at this moment the following re- 

ply: 

'"Patkkson, Bee. 1st, 1S49. 

"'Dear Sir — You ask me what success I 
have had with my swans. I got them from 
France four years ago last spring. The first 
year they did not lay. I suppose they were 
young ones. The second year I had two eggs, 
which did not hatch. The third year I had 
five eggs, four of them hatched out in thirty- 
nine days. The fourth year I had six eggs, all 
of which hatched out on the third of June, also 
in thirty-nine days. The swan lays an egg ev- 
ery other day, and begins to lay here toward 
the end of April. I have lost two young ones ; 
but on examination could not discover any cause 
for death. 

" ' Swans must have an abundance of clean 
water to swim in. I feed mine with Indian 
corn, rye, oats, and buckwheat, put at the edge 
of the pond, close to the water, as they like to 
wash down their food as they partake of it. 
When the cygnets are young, I give them In- 
dian meal, mixed with water, and boiled pota- 
toes broken up. I throw into the water some 
clover, green leaves of Indian corn, lettuce, cab- 
bage, spinach, besides the corn and oats, etc. 
They also come out and eat grass like geese. 
In fact, they may be fed as you would a favorite 
goose, and with a fresh, clear pond of water, 
you will succeed. 

" 'Truly yours, E. L. Colt.'" 

A lake of half an acre in extent is quite suf- 
ficient not only to maintain a pair of swans, but 
to supply an acceptable lot of cygnets in the 
fall; but in confined waters they require a lib- 
eral supply of food in the autumn, when the 
weeds run short. It should be remembered 
that, at this season, they have to supply them- 
selves with a new suit of feathers, as well as to 
maintain their daily strength. If they have 
been taught to eat corn, and have not acquired 
a notion of grazing, they perish from starvation 
as undoubtedly as a canary bird neglected in its 
cage. Young birds are apt to be fanciful or 
stupid, and have not sense enough to come to 



the bank and eat grass, or pick up the thrashed 
corn that may be thrown down to them. Some- 
times they may be tempted with a lock of un- 
thrashed barley or oats thrown, straw and all, 
into the water, which they will instinctively lay 
hold of and devour. Swans have been kept on 
a much more limited space successfully. 

The cygnets, when first hatched, are of a 
slaty -gray, inclining to mouse color. The time 
of incubation is about six weeks or thereabouts. 

The happy parents will charge themselves 
with entire maintenance of their tender young, 
if they have but the range of a large extent of 
river banks and shallow water; will lead them 
up to the quiet ditches, point out the juicy blade, 
the floating seed, the struggling insect, the sin- 
uous worm; will then steer to shoals left by 
some circling eddy, and stirring up the soft sed- 
iment with their broad feet, show that minute 
but nutritious particles may thence be extract- 
ed. As hunger is satisfied, and weariness comes 
on, the mother will sink in the stream till her 
back becomes an easy landing-place, and the 
nurslings are thus transferred, in a secure and 
downy cradle, to fresh feeding-places. 

But in a restricted beat they must not be left 
altogether to themselves. A gently-sloping bank 
will enable them to repair at pleasure to the 
grassy margin. The old ones must have plenty 
of corn, which they will by-and-by teach their 
young to eat ; tender vegetables from the kitch- 
en garden, such as endive, lettuce, or cress, will 
help to sustain them, besides attracting the soft- 
bodied creatures that are of all food the most 
needful. Pollard frequently scattered on the 
surface of the pond will be of material assist- 
ance; and whatever it is found that they will 
eat, let them have in the greatest abundance. 
Their growth is rapid ; their weight should be 
considerable, but with little time to acquire it 
in. The period can not be extended much 
longer than from June to the end of November. 
By Christmas they must all either be eaten or 
have migrated, when the parents will begin to 
direct their thoughts forward to a succeeding 
family. Confined swans sometimes get a sort 
of quid of mud, fibres, and gravel under their 
chins, which it is as well now and then to ex- 
amine and clean out. 



234: 



THE AMEKICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 




THE ULACK SWAN. 



Those who have only a good-sized pond — say 
from a quarter to half an acre of water — may 
rear and fat an annual brood. In so small a 
space, the old birds must, of course, share with 
their young the extra supply of fatting corn ; 
but they will get through the winter the better 
for it, and be more prolific in the spring. Nei- 
ther they nor their cygnets should at any time 
be allowed to become poor. 

When cygnets are removed from their parents 
to be fatted in a regular swan-pond, it is usual 
to separate them at the end of August or the be- 
ginning of September. At first, grass is thrown 
into the water to them twice a day, with their 
other food ; but this is not continued more 
than two weeks. Pour bushels of barley is the 
established allowance to fat each swan. Their 
weight, in the feathers, generally varies from 25 
to 28 pounds, and sometimes, though rarely, 30 
pounds. They are in season until Christmas, 
after which they are good for nothing for the 
table. 

THE BLACK SWAN. 

This bird is a native of, and is found in large 
flocks in Van Diemen's Land, and on the west- 
ern coast of New Holland or Australia. It was 
first found at Swan, or Black Swan River, by a 



Dutch voyager, who, in 1697, sailed forty or 
fifty miles up the river in his boat. 

The Black Swan is exactly similar in its form 
to the swan of the Old World, but is somewhat 
smaller in size. Every part of its plumage is 
perfectly black, with the exception of the pri- 
maries and a few of the secondary quill-feath- 
ers, which are white. The bill is of a light-red 
color, is crossed at the anterior part by a whitish 
band ; it is of a grayish color on the under part ; 
and in the male is surrounded at the base by a 
slight protuberance. The legs and feet are all 
of a dark-ash color. Black swans, in their wild 
state, are extremely shy. They are generally 
seen swimming on a lake, in flocks consisting 
of eight or ten individuals. On being disturbed, 
they fly off in a direct line, one after another, 
like wild geese. 

When Captain Flanders — an excellent sailor, 
of late years — first explored the same coast, he 
found black swans, in immense flocks, in the 
openings both of the rivers Tamer and Derwent. 
Of these flocks he says: "Prom one-fifth to 
one-tenth of them were unable to fly; they 
can not dive, but have a method of plunging 
so deep in the water as to render their bodies 
nearly invisible, and thus frequently avoid de- 
tection. In chase their plan was to gain the 



AQUATIC FOWLS. 



23, ? 



wind upon our little boat, and they generally 
succeeded when the breeze was strong, and 
sometimes escaped from our shot also." 

"The black swans of New Holland," says 
Mowbray, "I have not hitherto had the op- 
portunity of seeing. They were introduced in 
this country some years since, but I believe the 
number bred or remaining is very small. They 
are said to degenerate here as to size, yet the 
imported individuals, it seems, were no larger 
than our indigenous breed. There is said by 
naturalists to be some disparity between the 
wild and tame black swan in respect to the 
bill and organization of the bones. Hence, 
probably, they form different species of the 
same genus." 

"It is strange," says Dixon, "that their 
price should still continue so high, as they 



breed in this country, frequently though not 
abundantly, under circumstances that must be 
considered unfavorable. We suspect, from the 
localities in Australia where they were orig- 
inally found, that they would be all the better 
for occasional marine diet, and, like the shel- 
drake, enjoy now and then a treat of cockles 
and shrimps, with perhaps a barrowful of sea- 
weed as the joint on which to cut and come 
again." 

For those to whom the amount of purchase 
money is of little importance, the black swan is, 
beyond all question, the bird to place, as a fin- 
ishing stroke of art, on the smooth lake or sheet 
of water which expands before our mansions. 
Its superb beauty, its gentle manners, is unde- 
niable and acknowledged, and, indeed, altogeth- 
er taking in its ways. 



236 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 




THE AMERICAN WILD GOOSE. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

AQUATIC FOWLS. 



THE AMERICAN WILD GOOSE. 

This bird is the well-known Wild Goose of 
America ; in Europe it is called the " Canada 
Goose." Most writers on poultry call it a va- 
riety of the common goose ; but it is no more a 
variety of goose than the swan. Cuvier seems 
to doubt whether it is a goose at all, and says 
that it can not properly be separated from the 
true swans. The American wild goose, in spite 
of its migratory habits, which it appears in al- 
most every case to forget in a reclaimed or do- 
mesticated state, shows much more disposition 
for true domestication than the swan, and may 
be maintained in perfect health with very limited 
opportunities for bathing. Audubon kept some 
three years, and although the old birds refused 
to breed in confinement, their young, which he 
captured with them, did. He states their pe- 
riod of incubation to be twenty-eight days, which 
is a shorter period than one would have imag- 
ined. That circumstance alone makes a wide 
distinction. 



In a state of nature, the American wild goose 
eats worms and soft insects, as well as grass and 
aquatic plants, which the typical, or goose prop- 
er, never does. In a domestic or confined state 
they do not breed till they are at least two years 
old, and so far approach the swan, like which 
also, the male appears to be fit for reproduction 
earlier than the female. But Audubon says, 
" That this tardiness is not the case in the wild 
state, I feel pretty confident ; for I have observed 
having broods of their own many individuals, 
which, by their size, the dullness of their plu- 
mage, and such other marks as are known to the 
practical ornithologist, I judged to be not more 
than fifteen or sixteen months old. I have, 
therefore, thought that in this, as in many oth- 
er species, a long series of years is necessary for 
counteracting the original wild and free nature 
which has been given them ; and, indeed, it 
seems probable that our attempts to domesti- 
cate many species of wild fowls, which would 
prove useful to mankind, have often been aban- 
doned in despair, when a few years more of 




WILD GOOSE. 



AQUATIC FOWLS. 



237 



constant care might have produced the desired 
effect." 

The American wild goose is a beautiful bird. 
The head, two-thirds of the neck, the greater 
quills, the rump and tail, are jet black; the back 
and wings are brown, edged with lighter brown ; 
the base of the neck anteriorly, and the under- 
plumage, generally brownish-gray ; a few white 
feathers are scattered about the eye, and a white 
cravat, of a kidney-shape, forms a conspicuous 
mark on the throat ; upper and under tail-cov- 
erts pure white ; bill and feet black. The long 
and delicate neck of this bird gives it quite a 
snake-like appearance. 

The American wild goose is universally 
known over the whole country, whose regular 
periodical migrations are the sure signal of re- 
turning spring or approaching winter. Late in 
autumn, especially when the wind is from the 
north, these wild geese are seen sailing high in 
the air, making their accustomed tour at that 
season. Impelled by nature, they quit their 
northern abode, and hazard an escape from the 
artifices of man sooner than perish amidst the 
icy barrens of the frozen regions. "When mi- 
grating, many flocks unite and form a vast col- 
umn, each band having its chosen leader. 

The flight of the wild goose is heavy and la- 
borious, generally in a straight line, or in two 
lines, approximating to a point, or rather in the 
form of two sides of a triangle ; in both cases 
the van is led by an old gander, who every now 
and then pipes his well-known honk, honk! as if 
to ask how they come on, and the honk of 
" All's well !" is generally returned by some of the 
party. When bewildered in foggy weather, they 
appear sometimes to be in great distress, flying 
about in an irregular manner, making a great 
clamor. On these occasions, should they alight 
on the ground, as they sometimes do, they meet 
with speedy death and destruction. 

The hoarse honking of the gander is so fa- 
miliar to the inhabitants of our country, that it 
is impossible for them to arrive among us with- 
out making their visit known. All welcome 
their return. The once keen eye of the aged 
gunner again sparkles as he beholds their grand 
and lofty flight ; the firelock is immediately 
brought into requisition, and then the prac- 



ticed gunner looks upon them as debtors re- 
turned to cancel a long-standing obligation ; he 
has watched their flight, and discovered their 
landing-place ; his keen eye glances quickly 
over his trusty gun, and ere a moment elapses 
death is among them. 

The autumnal flight lasts from the middle of 
August to the middle of November ; the vernal 
flight from the middle of April to the middle of 
May. 

Wilson says that, u except in calm weather, 
the flocks of American wild geese rarely sleep 
on the water, generally preferring to roost all 
night in the marshes. When the shallow bays 
are frozen, they seek the mouths of inlets near 
the sea, occasionally visiting the air or breath- 
ing-holes in the ice ; but these bays are seldom 
so completely frozen as to prevent their feeding 
on the bars at the entrance." 

Wounded geese have frequently been so far 
domesticated as to pair readily with our tame 
geese; but their progeny are mules, and will not 
breed. On the approach of spring, however, 
they discover symptoms of uneasiness, frequent- 
ly looking up in the air and attempting to go 
off. Some, whose wings have been clipped, 
have traveled on foot in a northerly direction, 
and have been found at a distance of several 
miles from home. They hail every flock that 
passes overhead, and the salute is sure to be re- 
turned by the voyagers, who are only prevented 
from alighting by the presence and habitations 
of man. The gunners sometimes take one or 
two of these domesticated geese with them to 
those places over which the wild ones are accus- 
tomed to fly; concealing themselves, they wait 
for a flight, which is no sooner observed by the 
decoy geese, than they begin calling aloud until 
the flock approaches so near that the gunners 
are enabled to make great havoc among them 
with musket shot. 

We once possessed a wild gander that had 
been slightly wounded in the wing, which mated 
with a tame gray goose, and we bred from them 
for more than ten years, but the produce were 
not fruitful, although they laid eggs. They nev- 
er showed any disposition to pair or mate with 
either the wild or domestic goose. They seemed 
to consider themselves exclustves, and kept by 



238 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



themselves — apparently rather aristocratic in 
their notions. The hybrids partook largely of 
the wild character and habits, and if their wings 
are not clipped spring and fall, they are very apt 
to fly away and not return. We have lost two 
pair in that way ; one pair, after rising in the 
air and whirling about the premises for a short 
time, bent their course in a "bee-line" toward 
the river, and alighted about three miles below 
Albany, where they were supposed to be wild 
geese, and shot. The other two left in the latter 
part of winter, and after hovering about the 
neighborhood for two or three days, were seen 
to rise high in the air and direct their course to- 
ward the river, which was the last we ever heard 
of them. The old gander was finally shot in a 
small sheet of water near the house by one of 
those lawless loafers who encroach on our prem- 
ises with impunity. 

The young gander has a frequent disposition 
to neglect his own mate, and give himself up to 
unlicensed companionship. Mr. Dixon had one 
that deserted his partner, to her evident grief, 
and made most furious love to one of a flock of 
tame geese, separating her from the rest, not 
permitting any other water-fowl to swim near 
her, stretching out his neck stiffly on a level 
with the water, opening his red-lined throat to 
its utmost extent, hissing, sighing, trumpeting, 
winking his bright, black eyes, tossing his head 
madly, and all kinds of folly. Mr. Dixon did 
not choose to permit such conduct ; but as often 
as he killed and roasted the object of his affec- 
tions, the Canadian gander immediately select- 
ed another leman, invariably the ugliest of the 
surviving females. One short, squat, rough- 
feathered, ill-marked goose, with a thick bill 
and a gray top-knot, was his special favorite. 
When the Michaelmas murders had extirpated 
the whole race he so much admired, he returned 
reluctantly and coldly to his former love. The 
best remedy in such a case is to divorce them 
at once, and exchange one out of the pair for 
another bird. 

A similar incident is related in the American 
Agriculturist, by Colonel Thayer, of Braintree, 
Massachusetts, in the following words : " A few 
years since, a neighbor of mine shot at a flock 
of wild geese while passing to the south, wound- 



ed one in the wing, took it alive, and very soon 
domesticated him. He soon became very tame, 
and went with the other geese. I bought him, 
and kept him three years, and then mated him 
with an old native goose. They had several 
broods of young ones, and the old goose be- 
came very feeble, so much so that she could 
not sit long enough to hatch out her eggs. I 
accordingly put them under another goose, 
where they did very well. In the fall of the 
year I gave her away, and mated the wild gan- 
der with another. In the spring following, 
about six months after, I heard that the old 
goose had got better, and was in good health. 
She was brought home and put into my poultry- 
yard. The wild gander and his new mate were 
at a distance of about eighty rods, in another 
pasture. As soon as the old goose was put into 
the yard she made a loud noise, which the wild 
gander heard. He immediately left his new 
mate and came down to the yard, recognized 
his old mate, entered into close conversation, 
and appeared extremely happy in seeing her 
again. His other mate followed him, and 
wished to join the party ; but he appeared 
much offended, treated her with the greatest 
indifference, and drove her from him." 

Wild geese are regarded by those who have 
kept them nearly as good and as profitable as 
the domestic goose, which they exceed in size, 
and especially in the quantity and quality of 
their feathers; even the half-bloods show a 
great superiority in that respect. 

The facility with which the wild goose is 
tamed, while yet it retains a "trick of the old 
nature," is well exemplified in a story related 
by Wilson, on the authority of a correspondent 
for whose veracity he vouches, which story, he 
observes, is paralleled by others of the same im- 
port : " Mr. Piatt, a respectable farmer on Long 
Island, being out shooting in one of the bays, 
which in that part of the country abound with 
water-fowl, wounded a wild goose. Being wing- 
tipped and unable to fly, he caught it and brought 
it home alive. It proved to be a female, and, 
turning it into his yard with a flock of tame 
geese, it soon became quite tame and familiar, 
and in a little time its wounded wing entirely 
healed. In the following spring, when the wild 



AQUATIC FOWLS. 



239 



geese migrated to the northward, a flock passed 
over Mr. Piatt's barn-yard, and just at that mo- 
ment their leader happening to sound his bugle- 
note, our goose, in whom its new habits and en- 
joyments had not quite extinguished the love 
of liberty, remembering the well-known sound, 
spread its wings, moved in the air, joined the 
travelers, and soon disappeared. 

"In the succeeding autumn the wild geese, 
as usual, returned from the northward in great 
numbers, to pass the winter in our bays and 
rivers. Mr. Piatt happened to be standing in 
his yard when a flock passed directly over his 
barn. At that instant he observed three geese 
detach themselves from the rest, and, after 
wheeling round several times, alight in the mid- 
dle of the yard. Imagine his surprise and 
pleasure when, by certain well -remembered 
signs, he recognizes in one of the three his long- 
lost fugitive. It was she, indeed! She had 
traveled many hundred miles to the lakes, had 
there hatched and reared her offspring, and had 
now returned with her little family to share 
with them the sweets of civilized life." 

" The following account of a Canada goose 
is so very extraordinary," says Willoughby, 
" that I am aware it would with difficulty gain 
credit, were not a whole parish able to vouch 
for the truth of it. The Canada geese are not 
fond of a poultry -yard, but are rather of a ram- 
bling disposition. One of these birds, however, 
was observed to attach itself, in the strongest 
and most affectionate manner, to the house-dog, 
and would never quit the kennel except for the 
purpose of feeding, when it would return again 
immediately. It always sat by the dog, but 
never presumed to go into the kennel except in 
rainy weather. Whenever the dog barked the 
goose would cackle, and run out to the person 
she supposed the dog barked at, and try to bite 
him by the heels. Sometimes she would at- 
tempt to feed with the dog ; but this the dog, 
who treated his faithful companion rather with 
indifference, would not permit. This bird would 
not go to roost with the others at night unless 
driven by main force, and when in the morning 
she was turned into the field, she would never 
stir from the yard-gate, but sit there the whole 
day in sight of the dog. At last, orders were 



given that she should be no longer molested) 
but suffered to accompany him as she liked. 
Being thus left to herself, she ran about the 
yard with him all night ; and, what is particu- 
larly extraordinary, and can be attested by the 
whole parish, whenever the dog went out of the 
yard and ran into the village, the goose always 
accompanied him, continuing to keep up with 
him by the assistance of her wings, and in this 
way of running and flying, follow him all over 
the parish. This extraordinary affection of the 
goose toward the dog, which continued to his 
death, two years after it was first observed, is 
supposed to have originated from his having ac- 
cidentally saved her from a fox in the very mo- 
ment of distress. While the dog was ill the 
goose never quit him day or night, not even to 
feed, and it was apprehended she would have 
been starved to death had not orders been given 
for a pan of corn to be set every day close to the 
kennel. At this time the goose generally sat 
in the kennel, and would not suffer any one to 
approach except the person who brought the 
dog's or her own food. The end of this faithful 
bird was melancholy; for when the dog died 
she would still keep possession of the kennel; 
and a new house-dog being introduced, which 
in size and color resembled the one lately lost, 
the poor goose was unhappily deceived, and 
going into the kennel as usual, the new in- 
habitant seized her by the throat and killed 
her." 

The manner in which these birds are visually 
kept, in Europe as well as in this country, is 
neither consistent with their natural habits, 
nor calculated to develop their usefulness and 
merit. They are mostly retained as ornaments 
to large parks and inclosures, where there is an 
extensive range of grass and water ; so far all is 
as it should be. But they are generally asso- 
ciated with other species of geese and water- 
fowls, all being of a sociable disposition, and 
forming one heterogeneous flock. In the breed- 
ing season they can neither agree among them- 
selves to differ seriously, nor yet to live togeth- 
er in peace ; the consequence is, that they inter- 
rupt each other's love-making, keep up a con- 
stant bickering, without coming to the decisive 
quarrels and battles that would set all to rights; 



240 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 




TIIE DOMESTIC, OB COMMON GOOSE. 



and in the end, we have birds without mates, 
eggs unfertilized, and now and then a few mon- 
strous hybrids, which, however much some curi- 
ous persons may prize them, are as ugly as they 
are unnatural, and by no means recompense by 
their rarity for the absence of two or three 
bioods of healthy legitimate goslings. 

THE DOMESTIC, OK COMMON GOOSE. 

The domestication of the goose, like that of 
the domestic fowl, is hidden in the remotest 
ages of antiquity. Among the Greeks and Ro- 
mans it seems to have been the only really do- 
mesticated water-fowl they possessed ; and ap- 
pears to have held exactly the same place in 
their esteem that it still retains with us, after 
the lapse of two or three thousand years. 

It is very natural to inquire whence so re- 
markable and valuable a bird was originally ob- 
tained ; but the conclusion generally arrived at 
appears to be inconsistent not merely with 
truth, but even with probability ; viz., that it re- 
sults from the crossing and intermixture of sev- 
eral wild species. None of these ancient ac- 
counts indicate any such fact ; but on the con- 
trary, declare that the domestic goose was in the 
earliest ages exactly what it is now. The very 
same arguments that are used to show that the 



domesticated goose is a triple alliance of the 
Gray-legged, the White-fronted, and the Bean 
goose, would equally prove that the Anglo- 
Saxon race of men is derived from a mixture 
of the red Indian, the yellow Chinese, and the 
tawny Moor. 

According to popular opinion, the domestic 
goose is usually considered as having been de- 
rived from the " Grey-legged Goose," but such 
a circumstance is rendered highly improbable 
from the well-known fact that the common gan- 
der, after attaining a certain age, is invariably 
white. 

The Grey-legged goose certainly approaches 
nearer to the domestic bird than any of the oth- 
ers above named ; and if we are limited to any 
one of the wild birds of this genus, now known 
to us, in our inquiries for the probable ancestor, 
it is to this species that, in our opinion, the 
honor should be assigned. Mr. Yarrell, in his 
most valuable work on British birds, mentions 
the following instance in strong corroboration 
of this relationship : 

"The Zoological Society of London, possess- 
ing a pinioned wild Grey-legged gander, which 
had never associated with either Bean goose, 
or White-fronted goose, though both were kepi 
on the same Mater with him, a domestic goose, 



AQUATIC FOWLS. 



241 



selected in the London market from the circum- 
stance of her exhibiting in her plumage the 
marks which belong to and distinguish the true 
Gray-legged species, was this season (1841) 
brought and put down to him. The pair were 
confined together for a few days, became imme- 
diately very good friends, and a sitting of eggs 
was the consequence. 

"These were hatched, and have proved pro- 
lific. Some were hatched in the two following 
seasons, and some of their descendants still re- 
main at the gardens. Eight young ones were 
hatched out from eleven eggs of the first cross, 
and seven young ones the next season from ten 
eggs ; but from some cause the young geese de- 
rived from the first pair of birds do not now pro- 
duce large broods ; the number of eggs has 
been, in two instances, only six, and in three 
instances only five. Some farmers, who re- 
ceived specimens of these geese, declined keep- 
ing them as stock, because they produced such 
small broods — in some instances only four." 

This reduction of the number of eggs seems 
to us consistent both with the infusion of the 
wild blood and the continued collateral al- 
liances. But this falling off from the product- 
iveness of the tame goose, we imagine would, 
after a time, be regained ; and again, as in 
such cases an argument is often drawn against 
the probability of the Gray-leg being the stock 
from whence proceeded our domestic bird, from 
the reduced size of the young, it is sufficient to 
reply, that in many of those instances where 
this objection has been raised, proof is wholly 
wanting to show that the Gray-legged goose 
has been the wild parent ; while, from the com- 
parative scarcity of that bird, and the abundance 
in which the Bean goose may be obtained, the 
latter, we have every reason to believe, has 
often been the bird alluded to under the com- 
mon name of the "Wild Goose." 

If this be so, loss of size in such hybrids will 
be readily iinderstood by any one conversant 
with the great difference in this respect between 
the two wild species. 

The general tone of the plumage and the fig- 
ure of the Gray-legged goose are closely repeat- 
ed in many specimens of the gray domesticated 
bird ; the variations that occur not passing be- 

Q 



yond the limits that the control of man would 
probably occasion. Thus the pale color of the 
wild bird's legs and feet, which gives it its dis- 
tinctive name, is changed to a brighter hue in 
the tame bird ; but to account for such an al- 
teration, it will hardly be considered necessary 
to refer to the introduction of the pink-footed 
race. 

Mr. Selby, in his "Illustration of British Orni- 
thology," thus expresses himself: "It is gener- 
ally admitted that our race of domestic geese 
has originally sprung from this (the Gray-legged 
goose) species, and however altered they may 
now appear in bulk, color, or habits, the essential 
habits remain the same ; no disinclination to 
breed with each other is evinced between them, 
and the offspring of wild and domesticated birds 
are as prolific as their mutual parents." 

The common gray, white, or mottled goose, 
has hitherto, with but few exceptions, formed the 
general stock of this country ; and from disre- 
gard to the degeneracy, occasioned by breeding 
in-and-in, inferior specimens have become far 
too common. 

These causes, too, with neglect of proper atten- 
tion when young, have in many instances so re- 
duced their weight at maturity, that they fall 
short of a Brazilian drake, and a corresponding 
depreciation of the flesh, in both flavor and text- 
ure, is the consequent result. 

The ganders are usually white, or with a 
preponderance of that color, while the geese 
have various shades of ash-gray, and a dull 
leaden-brown with it; a preference is often 
expressed for those that have no white what- 
ever, excepting only on the lower part of the 
body. 

Of all our domestic birds none are so profit- 
able as geese, where there are facilities for keep- 
ing them ; for there are none which can do so 
much for themselves when alive, and none that 
come to so little waste when dead. Unlike the 
fowl, all parts of the goose are equally good. 
Besides which, every feather is of value, greater 
than that of every other of our domestic birds. 
Every housewife knows how to appreciate bed- 
ding stuffed with their plumage; and in these 
days of steel pens, the goose still possesses quills. 
When young, or in the "green" state, as some 



242 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



term it, the goose is a popular dish on the table 
of those who can afford it. 

How is it, then, that the goose is not more 
popular with poultry-fanciers ? It can only be 
accounted for by the fact, for fact it is, by rea- 
son of its not being in every one's power to 
keep them. 

The chief requisites for goose-keeping are a 
pool of water and a pasture for grazing. The 
latter is essential, as the bird is graminivorous 
as well as granivorous. An occasional cabbage- 
leaf will form an acceptable variety of food ; 
and during the winter any spare garden-stuff 
will help to supply the deficiencies of the pas- 
ture. If fed high, some varieties of geese will 
often lay in autumn, but the advantage of a 
brood of goslings in November is questionable. 

" All men," says Markham, an ancient writer, 
"must understand that, except he have either 
pond or stream, he can never keep geese well." 
Yet if we are to believe M. Parmentier, the vi- 
cinity of rivers and ponds is not absolutely nec- 
essary to the most successful rearing of geese ; 
for in districts destitute of these advantages, a 
small reservoir, where they can bathe, will be 
quite sufficient. 

Columella advises to pasture geese in marshy 
or moist grounds, and to sow for them vitches 
or tares, clover, mellilot, and fenugreek, but 
more particularly chicory and lettuce, of which, 
he says, they are very fond. 

" Grass," says Markham, " they mnst neces- 
sarily have, and the worst and that which is 
most useless is the best, as that which is moor- 
ish and unsavory for cattle." 

In allowing geese to range at large, it is req- 
uisite to be aware that they are very destruc- 
tive to all garden and farm crops as well as to 
young trees, and must, therefore, be carefully 
excluded from orchards and cultivated fields. 
It is usual to prevent them getting through the 
gaps in fences by hanging a stick or "yoke" 
across their breasts. 

They are accused by some of poisoning the 
grass, and of rendering the spots where they 
feed offensive to other stock ; but the secret of 
this is very simple. A horse bites closer than 
an ox, a sheep goes nearer to the ground than 
a horse ; but after the sharpest shaving by sheep, 



the goose will polish up the turf, and grow fat 
upon the remnants of others. Consequently, 
where geese are kept in great numbers on a 
small area, little will be left to maintain any 
other grass-eating creature. But if the com- 
mons are not short, it will not be found that 
other grazing animals object to feed either to- 
gether with, or immediately after, a flock of 
geese. 

Although water be the natural element of 
geese, yet it is a curious fact, that they feed 
much faster in situations remote from rivers or 
ponds. They should not be allowed to run at 
large when they are fattening, as they do not 
acquire flesh nearly so fast when allowed to take 
much exercise. 

The domestic gander is polygamous, but he 
is not an indiscriminate libertine ; he will rare- 
ly couple with females of any other species. 
Hybrid common geese are almost always pro- 
duced by the union of a wild gander with a do- 
mestic goose. Three, or, at the very utmost, 
four geese, are as many as we should place with 
one gander; if the latter, indeed, were a young 
bird in his second or third year only, it would 
be prudent still farther to diminish the number. 
But the older the stock-birds, the better the 
chances of success ; for the eggs of a young 
goose, in her second year of existence, produce 
but few goslings, and these, as might be antici- 
pated, are often delicate in rearing. 

Two geese we consider sufficient for one gan- 
der, and it is generally admitted that more gos- 
lings are produced from such a proportion of 
the sexes than if more are kept with one gan- 
der. Many experienced breeders will, perhaps, 
differ from this opinion, but we would rather 
err with the smaller number than hazard the 
risk of unfertilized eggs. If we admit the prob- 
ability of descent from the Gray-legged goose — 
a strictly monogamous bird — the produce of 
such limitation must be apparent. Occasion- 
ally, as happens with other poultry, an aversion 
will be shown by the gander to one or other of 
the geese placed with him ; this dislike, from 
whatever cause proceeding, is usually perma- 
nent, and the rejected one should therefore be 
at once removed. 

It was ascertained by St. Genis of Prance, 



AQUATIC FOWLS. 



243 



that geese will pair like pigeons and partridges ; 
and in the course of his experiments he re- 
marked, that if the number of the ganders ex- 
ceed that of the geese by two, and even by three, 
including the common father, no disturbance or 
disputes occur, the pairing taking place without 
any noise, and no doubt by mutual choice. Be- 
sides the common father, he left two of the 
young ganders unprovided with female compan- 
ions ; but the couples which had paired kept 
constantly together, and the three single gan- 
ders did not, during temporary separations of 
the males and females, offer to approach the lat- 
ter. He also remarked, that ganders are more 
commonly white than the females. M. Par- 
mentier recommends the gander to be selected 
of a large size, of a fine white, with a lively eye, 
and an active gait; while the breeding-goose, 
he says, ought to be brown, ash-gray, or parti- 
colored, and to have a broad foot. The gray 
geese are supposed to produce the finest gos- 
lings, while the parti-colored ones produce bet- 
ter feathers, and are not apt to stray from 
home. 

Laying. — When well fed the goose will begin 
to lay early in the spring, usually in March ; 
sometimes earlier, as the weather is cold or 
mild. Some geese will lay, twice or three times 
in the year, from five to twelve eggs each time, 
and some more — that is, when left to their own 
way; but if the eggs are carefully removed as 
soon as laid, a goose may be made, by abund- 
ant feeding, to lay from twenty to fifty eggs 
without intermitting. 

This refers to the old birds, since young 
geese in their second year are seldom to be re- 
lied on. A few eggs are constantly laid ; but 
neither can we trust to their proving productive, 
nor to the bird itself as likely to properly fulfill 
the duties of incubation ; our remarks, there- 
fore, are now limited to the older birds, which, 
indeed, are not generally considered trustwor- 
thy as sitters until their third or fourth year, 
and even long after that age do they continue 
to improve in their discharge of this important 
office. From twelve to fifteen is the number 
usually laid before the goose desires to sit ; but 
so much depends on weather and food, that 
variations in this respect are of constant occur- 



rence. The usual time of laying is night, but 
we have had them deposited at all hours of the 
day. The eggs are produced on alternate days, 
and sometimes on two consecutive days, with a 
cessation on the third. The fecundity of some 
geese, however, is wonderful ; instances are said 
to have occurred of a goose laying upward of 
one hundred eggs within the year. A Mr. 
Holmes, of Maine, had a goose in his posses- 
sion which, within the year, laid seventy eggs ; 
twenty-six at the usual time of incubation, from 
which she hatched and brought up seventeen 
fine goslings. She began to lay again at the 
end of harvest, and continued to lay every oth- 
er day to the end of the year, and remained in 
high condition. 

The best locality adapted for the goose- 
keeper is a wide range; for where water and 
grass are plenty we need go no farther. Wa- 
ter of such size and depth as will permit at 
least a daily "paddle," is essential for stock 
birds ; for here they resort as soon as the door 
of the place of their night's rest is opened, and 
here and then ensues the intercourse from which 
an increase to their numbers may be looked for, 
the presence of water appearing essential to the 
fertility of the eggs. A rapid running river has 
few attractions for the goose-keeper, since his 
birds are too often induced to extend their ex- 
cursions to perilous distances, and the haz- 
ards before enumerated are proportionally in- 
creased. 

The goose-house is too often thought suffi- 
ciently provided for when some old out-house, 
hardly secure against the predatory rambles of 
the fox, and affording easy ingress to rats and 
other vermin, is appropriated. But as we have 
seen that the value of breeding turns so great- 
ly on age, it would surely be worth while to 
take efficient means to guard against such risks. 
The rat, it is true, would hardly be considered 
as a dangerous foe to the grown birds ; but gos- 
lings have peculiar attractions for it; and by 
night the chances of a successful inroad are 
great in spite of the resistance of the old birds 
in defense of their young. But weasels, skunks, 
and others of the destructive family, will effect 
an entrance by apertures which admit the for- 
mer animal ; and from these, small as some of 



244 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



them are, even the older members of the flock 
are not secure. 

Eor a gander and his three or four partners 
there should be an allowance of room not less 
than eight feet in length, by six in width ; the 
height need not be more than is sufficient for 
the person who cleans it to stand upright; and 
beneath the eaves an open space should be left, 
securing perfect ventilation, while it prevents 
the rain from driving in during windy weather. 
Barred windows at the side would permit a 
more thorough access of air in summer; and 
the floor can not be made of any better materi- 
al than gravel well rammed down. But if it is 
necessary to employ stone for this purpose, care 
should be taken that the surface should be 
smooth, since full-grown geese, from the bulk 
to be sustained on their wide-spreading feet, are 
easily injured by a rough floor, and lameness 
may often thus ensue. For the young goslings 
dry floors are necessary; as the bath, which 
with the older birds so generally precedes the 
retiring to trftir night's rest, would soon convert 
an earth floor into a mass of mud. Where 
these precautions have been taken, a little straw 
shaken down, and renewed every other day, will 
secure a most comfortable abode. 

But other lodgings must be provided for the 
goose and her brood, as likewise for the young 
birds when they have left their mother, and 
are in a course of feeding. 

In the former case nothing is better than a 
well-ventilated, secure compartment, about three 
feet square, in which, by timely arrangement, 
it maybe so managed that the goose shall com- 
mence laying ; but if the ordinary indications 
of that season have not been taken advantage 
of, and the first egg should be laid in the or- 
dinary house, it is better to allow her to re- 
main there than incur the risk of rendering her 
unsteady in the nest by removals. We would, 
however, advise transferring her to her proper 
abode when the goslings are ushered into life. 
It is not from any misapprehension of the gan- 
der's disturbing her on the nest that it is advis- 
able to allow her this separate apartment, for 
that rarely happens ; and usually, indeed, he 
performs the part of a vigilant guard while his 
consort is engaged in incubation ; but when 



hatching-time comes round, his own anxiety t« 
protect his offspring brings him and the other 
geese, who share this feeling, into dangerou? 
proximity with the brood ; and thus, not unfre- 
quently, are the latter overwhelmed with kind' 
ness. 

A separate house has also been suggested fol 
the goslings when they have ceased to be undei 
maternal superintendence. Natural affection, 
indeed, does not then usually cease with the 
parents, but food of a better quality is required 
to push them on ; and this they may just as 
well have by themselves. 

Care, of the Goslings. — The head of a gosling 
protruding from beneath the mother's wings, 
on or about the thirtieth day, induces greater 
watchfulness on the part of the attendant ; but 
interference is seldom required, since the young 
birds are stronger in freeing themselves from 
the shell than any other kind of poultry. This 
is indeed fortunate ; for however gentle in her 
previous demeanor, the goose now declares her- 
self the most uncompromising opponent of all 
who approach the nest, including even those of 
her own race who have long been her compan- 
ions. Hence the great advantage of the sepa- 
rate hatching-pen, previously recommended. "I 
never interfere with their hatching till the last 
moment," says a writer in the "Poultry Book," 
" for their bill is very severe ; and on one occa- 
sion my poultry-woman nearly lost the tip of 
her finger from such an attack." Meddling 
with them, indeed, except only when there is 
urgent apparent necessity from the weakness of 
the young, or the want of caution of the parent, 
would be more likely to do harm than good, no 
less to the brood than to the operator, for the 
goose not only becomes at that period a savage 
opponent, but is so heavy and powerful a bird, 
that lifting her from her nest is not easily ac- 
complished without such struggles as throw eggs 
and goslings in utter confusion. 

On the first day after the goslings are hatch- 
ed they may be let out, if the weather be warm, 
care being taken not to let them be exposed to 
the unshaded heat of the sun, which might kill 
them. The food given them is prepared with 
some barley or Indian meal, coarsely ground, 
bran, and raspings of bread, which are still bet- 



AQUATIC FOWLS. 



245 



ter if soaked and boiled in milk, or lettuce 
leaves and cnis»ts of bread boiled in milk. On 
the second day a fresh-cut turf is placed before 
them, and its fine blades of grass or clover are 
the first objects which seem to tempt their ap- 
petites. A little boiled hominy and rice, with 
bread crumbs, form their food for the first few 
days ; fresh water in a shallow vessel, which 
they can dabble in and out without difficulty, 
being duly provided. Afterward advantage 
must be taken of a fine warm sun to turn them 
out on grass for a few hours; but if cold and 
damp, they should remain in their house, in 
which every attention should be paid to cleanli- 
ness by a constant supply of clean straw. Aft- 
er two weeks we cease these special precautions 
against exposure to the weather, and find them 
perfectly able to shift for themselves, in com- 
pany with their mothers and the others of their 
race. For some weeks, however, extra supplies 
of food, such as bran or corn meal mixed with 
boiled or steamed vegetables, may be given them 
twice a day, morning and evening, continuing 
to give them this food till the wings begin to 
cross on the back, and after this green food, 
which may be mixed with it, such as lettuce, 
cabbage, beet leaves, and such like. The pond 
is strictly forbidden them under all circum- 
stances for the first two weeks, and in severe 
weather for a longer period. Exposure to heavy 
rain out of doors, and a damp floor in the house 
where they are placed at night, are the main 
hazards to be avoided. 

Fatting. — With geese and ducks the principle 
should be to feed well from the earliest period ; 
and the quality, no less than the quantity, of 
their flesh will be found to reward the outlay. 
When put up to feed, an airy out-house, of such 
dimensions as may be suitable to the number 
of its intended inmates, is the first requisite ; 
and the process of fatting, we should observe, is 
more readily accomplished when some ten or a 
dozen are shut up together, than in the case of 
two or three only being thus doomed to captiv- 
ity. The goose is essentially a gregarious bird ; 
and separation from the remainder of the flock 
with which it has been accustomed to associate, 
is apt to induce sulkiness and partial rejection 
of food, which rare.lv happens when companions 



are present in sufficient numbers. On this ac- 
count it is desirable to have the feeding-house 
at some distance from the run of those birds 
which are still at large. 

Like other fowls, geese may be brought by 
proper management to a great degree of fat- 
ness ; but the period at which they are the fat- 
test must be chosen to kill them, otherwise they 
will rapidly become lean again, and many of 
them would die. 

Geese may be fattened at two different peri- 
ods of their lives ; in the young state, when 
they are termed "green geese," and after they 
have attained their full growth. The methods 
at each period are very nearly the same. 

A good diet for the first two weeks is formed 
of oats and water mixed in a trough ; after this 
the food is gradually changed to barley-meal 
mixed with water, of the same crumbling con- 
sistence that has been recommended for the 
goslings, the water being given separately in 
small quantities. Steamed potatoes, mashed 
up with four quarts of buckwheat or oats, 
ground, to the bushel, and given warm, is an 
excellent diet, and will render geese cooped 
in a dark, quiet place, fat enough in three 
weeks. 

When there are not many geese to fatten, 
they may be put into a cask with holes bored 
in it, through which they may thrust their heads 
to feed ; and being naturally voracious, the love 
of food is greater than the love of liberty, and 
they fatten rapidly. The food consists of a 
paste, made of buckwheat, barley, or Indian 
meal, with milk and boiled potatoes. 

In Belgium a lean goose is confined in a small 
coop made of fir, narrow enough to prevent it 
from turning, while there is a place behind for 
passing the dung, and another in front to let out 
the head. Water is supplied in a trough in 
front, having some bits of charcoal in it to 
sweeten it. A bushel of Indian corn is consid- 
ered enough food for a month. It is soaked 
in water the day before it is used ; and the goose 
is crammed morning and evening, while it is 
allowed during the day to cat and drink as 
much as it chooses. In a month it is seized 
with difficulty of breathing, and a lump of 
fat under each wins indicates that it is time 



246 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



to kill it, lest it should be choaked with fat 
and die. 

In some places on the Continent they nail 
their feet to a board, burn out their eyes with a 
hot iron, and keep them before a fire, allowing 
them, however, as much water as they choose 
to drink ; but these barbarous practices are now 
seldom resorted to. 

M. Viele, of France, found, by experiment, 
that geese fattened without cramming can not 
be brought to weigh above 12 or 13 pounds, 
while by cramming they can be made to weigh 
at least a third more. 

It is stated in the Farmer's Gazette that geese 
can be raised, in a proper situation, at a profit 
far greater than almost any other stock. But 
to do this, more attention is required than is 
usually bestowed on their keeping and manage- 
ment. 

The profit to be derived from geese feathers 
is not any where to be neglected ; it is an im- 
portant article, and always commands a fair 
price. An acquaintance of the author, who is 
very particular in keeping the feathers clean, 
finds a ready market at from 50 to 60 cents per 
pound. A goose will yield from 15 to 17 
ounces in a season. Bremen or Embden geese 
are larger than the common geese, are always 
white, and yield on an average from one to 
three ounces more feathers, and of a better 
quality (having more down attached to them) 
than those of the common brown goose. 

A writer in the Maine Farmer says : " I once 
knew a couple of industrious sisters who lived 
near a never-failing brook or stream in Massa- 
chusetts, who kept generally through the winter 
thirty geese, male and female. They had erect- 
ed some suitable but not costly sheds, in which 
they had apartments for them to lay, sit, and 
hatch. Their food in the winter was meal of 
various kinds to some extent, but principally 
apples and roots. In summer they had a pas- 
ture inclosed with a stone wall or broad fence, 
which embraced the Avater. They kept their 
wings so clipped that they could not fly over 
such a fence. They well knew, what we all 
know, that live geese feathers are a cash article 
at a fair price. They picked off their feathers 
three times in the season. Those thirty geese 



wintered, would raise seventy-five goslings, or 
young geese, and of course they had that num- 
ber to dispose of every fall or beginning of win- 
ter, when they are sent to market, and again 
picked, making four times they obtained feath- 
ers from those they wintered, and twice from 
the young ones that they had killed." 

Of all the stock brought up on farms, the 
goose lives to the greatest age, and is noted 
for its longevity; there are records of some at- 
taining to a centuiy or more. Twenty and 
thirty years are common periods through which 
its life may be traced ; but more than twice 
the latter space has been well proved to have 
passed over its head, without the least dim- 
inution of its value for the purpose of breed- 
ing. 

In 1824 there was a goose living in the pos- 
session of a Mr. Hewison (England), which was 
then upward of one hundred years old. It had 
been always in the constant possession of Mr. 
H.'s forefathers and himself; and on quitting 
his farm he would not suffer it to be sold with 
the rest of the stock, but made a present of it 
to the incoming tenant, that the venerable fowl 
might terminate its career on the spot where its 
useful and long life had been thus far spent. 

There was also a goose on a farm in Scotland 
of the clearly ascertained age of eighty-one 
years, still healthy and vigorous ; she was kill- 
ed while sitting on her eggs by a sow. It was 
supposed she might still have lived many years, 
and her fecundity appeared to be permanent. 
Other geese have proved fertile at seventy 
years. 

" A farmer near this place," says Mr. Sayers, 
writing from Clanville House, near Andover, 
England, "tells me that he has a goose now 
twenty-three years old, and that she has never 
hitherto failed in hatching out tw r o good broods 
every year; her second hatch this very season 
(1853) was ten, of which all are alive." 

The following goose story was related by Rev. 
C. Atwater in an English publication : 

"At the farm mills of Taberakeena, near 
Clonmel, Ireland, while in the possession of the 
late Mrs. Newbold, there was a goose, which by 
some accident was left solitary without a male 
or offspring, gander or gosling. 




in"" Mais? 



61 ''Zgg&rJiWzZ 



TOULOUSE GEESK. 



AQUATIC FOWLS. 



247 



" Now it so happened, as is common, that the 
miller's wife had set a number of duck's eggs 
under a hen, which in due time were incubated ; 
and, of course, the ducklings, as soon as they 
came forth, ran with natural instinct to the wa- 
ter, and the hen, as may well be supposed, was 
in a sad pucker, her maternity urging her to 
follow the brood, and her selfishness disposing 
her to keep on dry land. In the mean while, 
up sailed the goose, and with a noisy gabble, 
which certainly (being interpreted) meant leave 
them in my care, she swam up and down with 
the ducklings; and when they were tired with 
their aquatic excursion, she consigned them to 
the care of the hen. The next morning down 
came again the ducklings to the pond, and there 
was the goose waiting for them, aud there stood 
the hen in her great flustration. On this occa- 
sion we were not at all sure that the goose in- 
vited the hen, observing her maternal trouble ; 
but it is a fact that she being near, the hen 
jumped upon her back, and there sat, the duck- 
lings swimming, and the goose and hen after 
them, up and down the pond. And this was 
not a solitary event. Day after day the hen 
was seen on the back of the goose, attending 
the ducklings up and down, in perfect content- 
edness and good-humor, numbers of people 
coming to witness the circumstance, which con- 
tinued until the ducklings; coming to the days 
of discretion, required no longer the joint guard- 
ianship of the goose and hen." 

THE TOULOUSE GOOSE. 

The Toulouse Goose, as its name indicates, 
originated in France, and is distinguished from 
the dark-gray variety of the common goose, 
which it much resembles, not only by its greater 
size, but also by its colors being darker and 
more intense, by the bright-orange hue of the 
bill, legs, and the orbit around the eye, as also 
by the singularly early development of the ab- 
dominal pouch. The orbit itself is also much 
larger, and the head more depressed. The last 
characteristic, the unusual proportions of the 
abdominal pouch, is abundantly displayed in 
the same excess as is sometimes seen in the 
dew-lap of some breeds of cattle ; and this oc- 
curs at a 6hort period after they have emerged 



from the shell. The goslings will begin to as- 
sume this ordinary feature of mature birds when 
not ten days old ; and at three months it will be 
seen almost touching the ground. 

Some of the earliest birds of this breed were 
imported into England by the late Earl of 
Derby, from the south of France — probably 
from Marseilles. Like the Embden variety, 
they attain great size, and by the continuous 
retention of certain fixed colors in their plu- 
mage, with some other peculiarities, they would 
seem to be equally entitled to the separate po- 
sition of a " sub-variety." 

Dixon says: "The Toulouse goose, which 
has been so much extolled and sold at such 
high prices, is only the common domestic, en- 
larged by early hatching, very liberal feeding 
during youth, fine climate, and perhaps by age. 
I am in possession of geese, hatched at a season 
when it was difficult to supply them with abund- 
ance of nourishing green food, that are as much 
undersized as the Toulouse goose is oversized ; 
they are all domestic geese, nevertheless. It is 
for the sake of enlarging their growth, not for 
the mere purpose of supporting their strength, 
that the breeders cram them night and morning 
with flour-and-egg pellets. Grass alone would 
suffice for their sustenance, but extra nourish- 
ment makes extra-sized birds." 

The weight attained by the Toulouse goose 
is said to be enormous; and in a good locality, 
and under good management, must insure an 
admirable return for food consumed and the 
other expenses of their keep. To these merits 
we may add another recommendation, in the 
fact that, " even when fed to the greatest weights, 
they never become disgustingly fat, as too often 
happens with the common goose." 

It is very essential to farmers to procure good 
and pure-bred stock in their poultry-yards, that 
although the difference between a flock of ordi- 
nary geese and of Embden birds may not be 
great, except in color, it is still advisable the 
Embden or Toulouse should be preferred as be- 
ing distinct breeds, and therefore, by attention 
to the renovation of the stock, not likely to de- 
teriorate. 

The following is a description of a gander of 
this breed: "Head depressed, and of a more 



248 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



elongated form than in the common goose ; bill 
three inches in length, by two inches in depth 
at the base ; in color a clear orange-vermilion, 
the nail at its extremity being white, irides dark 
brown ; orbit large, and of the same color as the 
bill. The plumage of head and neck ash-gray, 
the latter showing 'the curl' in a very marked 
manner. Throat a light tint of gray ; breast, 
back, and thighs dark grayish-brown, with a 
margin of white, more or less distinct, on each 
feather. Greater wing-coverts brown ; lesser 
wing-coverts a light gray. Primary wing-feath- 
ers, of which the second is the longest, ash-gray, 
becoming very dark rich brown at their extrem- 
ities, the shaft being a clear white ; secondaries 
and tertials dark leaden-brown ; scapulars the 
same, with a narrow light edge. Under part 
of the body white; tail-coverts white; tail-feath- 
ers brown, with broad white band at the ex- 
tremity. Legs and feet reddish-yellow ; claws 
dusky. The wings, when folded, about half an 
inch shorter than the tail. 

"The orbit, in both its form and color, the 
general tone of plumage, the color of the bill 
and legs, the particular light marking of the 
lesser wing-coverts, and the wings, which fall 
short of the tail, are points of resemblance be- 
tween the Toulouse and the Gray-leg goose." 

It has already been said that geese are much 
given to grazing, but we have not said that they 
improve the pasture. This is the case, although 
there is an old misquoted proverb to the effect 
that "nothing will eat after a goose," whereas 
the auxiliary verb should be can and not will. 
The fact is, the goose will thrive on pasture so 
short that a goat would starve on it; and the 
consequence is a short sweet herbage. 

In the event of any one being induced by our 
account to keep geese, let us recommend him 
not to begin with young birds. They are not 
to be depended upon for breeding until the third 
year, and do not attain their perfection for a 
year or two subsequent to that age. When 
once in their prime they never retrograde, so 
that, barring accidents, a person possessed of a 
gander and three or four geese (no way related 
to each other, and in their prime of days), may 
consider himself set up in the anserine for 
life. 



THE EMBDEN OR BREMEN GOOSE. 

To Colonel Samuel Jaques, of Ten Hills 
Farm, near Boston, are we indebted for the first 
introduction of this very valuable and useful 
variety of water-fowl. They are originally from 
Holland, and the appellation of Embden has 
been obtained from the town of that name in 
Hanover. Beyond their great size, and the uni- 
form clear white of their plumage, we are at a 
loss for any sign of a specific difference between 
these and the common goose. In figure they 
are alike, and the bill and legs are of the same 
brick- dust hue; the permanency of these ad- 
vantages, however (that we have just alluded 
to), may justify our speaking of them as a sub- 
variety. 

One of their great advantages is this — that 
all the feathers being perfectly white, their val- 
ue, where many are kept, is far greater in the 
market than is ever the case with "mixed" 
feathers. In weight, too, these birds have great 
advantage over the common goose. All white 
poultry, again, are considered to " dress" — that 
is, to pluck, of a clearer and better appearance 
than colored birds. 

The quality of the flesh of the Embden geese 
is equal in flavor to the famous Toulouse of 
France. The Embden is the earliest layer, and 
frequently rears two broods in one season, the 
young ones proving as hardy as any other. The 
Embden goose has prominent blue eyes, is re- 
markably strong in the neck, and the feathers, 
from near the shoulder to the head, are far 
more curled than is generally seen in other 
birds. 

The quiet domestic character of the Embden 
geese causes them to lay on flesh rapidly ; they 
never stray from their home, the nearest pond 
and field satisfying their wants, and much of 
their time is spent in a state of quiet repose. 

The following account of the first importation 
of these birds, was communicated by S. Jaques, 
Jun., to the editor of "Dixon's Ornamental 
Poultry," in 1850. He says: "In the winter 
of 1820, a gentleman, a stranger, made a brief 
call at my father's house ; and, in conversation, 
casually mentioned that, during his travels in 
the interior of Germany, he had noticed a pure 



AQUATIC FOWLS. 



249 




EMBDBN Oil BREMEN GEESE. 



white breed of geese of unusual size, whose 
weight, he supposed, would not much fall short 
of twenty-five pounds each, providing they were 
well-fed and managed. At that period a friend 
of my father's — the late Eben Rollins, of Boston 
— kept a correspondence with the house of Dal- 
las and Co., in Bremen ; and, at his request, 
Mr. Rollins ordered, through that firm and on 
my father's account, two ganders and four geese 
of the breed mentioned by the stranger gentle- 
man. The geese arrived to order in Boston, in 
the month of October, 1821. 

" Having had the breed in question sent him 
from Bremen, my father named them after that 
place ; but English writers call this variety the 
' Embden geese.' It will be seen from what I 
have stated above, that my father was the orig- 
inal importer of this description, and therefore is 
entitled to the credit of first introducing it to 



the United States. It is certain that he had 
the Bremen geese in his possession at least five 
years prior to the time when Mr. James Sisson, 
of Rhode Island, imported his. 

" Ever since my father imported the Bremen 
geese he has kept them pure, and bred them so 
to a feather — no single instance having occurred 
in which the slightest deterioration of character 
could be observed. Invariably the produce has 
been of the purest white — the bill, legs, and feet 
of a beautiful yellow. No solitary mark or spot 
has crept out on the plumage of any one speci- 
men, to shame the true distinction they deserve 
of being a pure breed : like, with them, always 
lias produced like. 

" The original stock has never been out of 
my father's possession ; nor has he ever crossed 
it with any other kind since it was imported in 
1821. 



250 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



"I find, by reference to my father's notes, 
that, in 1826, and in order to mark his property 
indelibly, he took one of his favorite imported 
geese, and, with the instrument used for cutting 
gun -waddings, made a hole through the web of 
the left foot. This was done on the 26th of 
June ; and now, in 1850, the same goose, with 
the perforation in her foot, is running about in 
his poultry-yard, in as fine health and vigor as 
any of her progeny. She has never failed to 
lay from twelve to sixteen eggs every year, for 
the last twenty-seven years, and has always been 
an excellent breeder and nurse, as has all of the 
stock and offspring connected with her. I had 
the curiosity to weigh one of her brood of 1849, 
when nine months old exactly, and his weight, 
in feather, sent up 22 pounds in the opposite 
scale. 

"In 1832 a bull-dog killed several of my fa- 
ther's geese, and among them the two ganders 
originally imported. For the last eighteen years 
he has bred by his young ganders — putting them 
indiscriminately to parents and sisters — and re- 
serving the best of the produce, male and fe- 
male, for breeding. In so doing, he has never 
experienced any deterioration in weight, feath- 
er, or stamina, as has been exemplified in the 
above-mentioned instance of the nine-months' 
old gander, so produced, and whose food was 
almost exclusively grass. 

" As quality of flesh, combined with weight, 
is a main consideration, I wish to mention, re- 
garding the former, that the flesh of the Bremen 
(Embden) goose is very different from that of 
any of our domestic varieties. It does not par- 
take of that dry character which belongs to the 
other and more common kinds, but is as tender 
and juicy as the flesh of a wild fowl ; besides, it 
shrinks less in the process of cooking than that 
of any other fowl. Some of the keenest epi- 
cures have declared that the flesh of the Bre- 
men (Embden) goose is equal, if not superior, 
to that of the Canvas-back duck.(?) There is 
assuredly some comfort, not uncombined with 
ease, in carving a bird that weighs seventeen 
pounds, and taking a slice from the breast so 
long as to be obliged to cut it in two that one- 
half may cover no more than the width of a 
common dinner-plate. 



"The Embden goose inclines to commence 
laying at an earlier period than this northern 
latitude favors, which is in the latter part of 
February. To give the young fair play, it is 
advisable that hatching should be finished be- 
fore the first of June. The mode of prevention 
used by my father is as follows : 

" The whole of the breeding stock, male and 
female, are put into a dark room — say about 
the 20th of February — and kept there until 
about the 10th day of April. When in durance 
they are well fed once a day with corn, and al- 
lowed sufficient water all along to drink. Once 
a week they are allowed to get out for one hour 
to wash and plume themselves, and are then 
shut up again. While thus confined, they lose 
the inclination to breed, and do not assume it 
while they are kept shut up ; but in eight or ten 
days after they are set at liberty the disposition 
returns, and they commence laying. 

" The mode adopted by my father to bring 
the broods of goslings forth in one day is as 
under, and has been followed by him for many 
years with unvarying results. In 1840 he had 
four ganders and ten geese for breeding pur- 
poses. At that time he had as many as thirty 
milk-cows in one stable, the large door of which 
opened upon the farm lane. Directly in front 
of this door he had boxes, or nests, in which 
the geese laid their eggs. These boxes I will 
describe in course. The man who had charge 
of the cows had also the care of the geese, and 
he worked by the following instructions : First, 
the geese were to be carefully and properly fed. 
Secondly, the eggs were to be removed in the 
most gentle manner every day from the nests, 
and placed in a basket of cotton, which was 
kept in a moderate temperature and free from 
damp. When all the geese had begun to sit 
steadily, each was furnished with a nest com- 
posed of chopped straw, and care was taken 
that the nest was sufficiently capacious. The 
eggs were then set, and the geese allowed to sit 
upon them. 

" Strict attention was enjoined on the attend- 
ant not to allow more than one of the geese to 
leave her eggs at a time. As soon as one leaves 
the nest she makes a cackling noise, which was 
to be the signal for the man in attendance to 



AQUATIC FOWLS. 



251 



go and shut up the boxes in which the remain- 
der were sitting ; consequently, when the goose 
returned, she found only her own box open. 
Soon as she had entered, the whole of the doors 
were again opened, and the same rule observed 
throughout the period of hatching. In follow- 
ing this style of management, every goose was 
kept to its own nest. There were one hundred 
and twenty eggs set altogether, twelve to each 
of the breeding-geese before alluded to ; and at 
the end of four weeks — which is the usual pe- 
riod of incubation — there were eighty-eight gos- 
lings, produced all in one day, and they formed 
a beautiful sight. 

"When first hatched, the goslings are of a 
very delicate and tender constitution. My fa- 
ther's general practice is, to let them remain in 
the box in which they were hatched for twenty- 
four hours after they leave the shell ; but he 
regulates this by the weather, which, if fair and 
warm, may tolerate the letting the goslings out 
an hour or two in the middle of the day, when 
they may wet their little bills, and nibble at the 
grass. They ought not to be out in the rain at 
any time during the first month. A shallow 
pool dug in the yard, with a bucket or two of 
water thrown into it, to suit the temporary pur- 
pose of bathing, is sufficient during the period 
named. 

" The practice of feeding my father follows 
is not to give the goslings any grain whatever, 
after they are four days old, until snow falls, 
when they require to be fed on corn for a time. 
He thinks, however, if well fed on grain from 
the time they were hatched, they might weigh 
from four to seven pounds more than by leaving 
them to grass-feeding alone. 

"By feeding his geese until they are four 
days old, and then literally 'sending them to 
grass,' the weight of my father's geese, at seven 
to eight months old, has averaged from 17 to 
18 pounds each after the feathers have been 
cleanly picked off. He has no doubt that 25 
pounds could be easily attained by a little atten- 
tion to feeding with grain. 

"The breeding-boxes before mentioned are 
made in the fashion something like a dog-ken- 
nel, with a roof pitched both ways. They are 
30 inches long by 2-1 inches wide, and are 24 



inches high. The door is in the end, and is 
covered by a sliding pannel, which moves up- 
ward when egress or ingress is sought, and may 
be shut down at pleasure. For the first month 
the geese and goslings are all shut up in the 
boxes at night, in order to protect them against 
rain and vermin." 

We were always under the impression that 
Mr. James Sisson, of Warren, Rhode Island, 
was the first importer of these superior geese ; 
but it appears incorrect from the following ac- 
count of them, published in the New England 
Farmer: "In the fall of 1826," says Mr. S., "I 
imported from Bremen (north of Germany) 
three full-blooded perfectly white geese. I 
have sold their progeny for three successive sea- 
sons; the first year at $15 per pair, the two 
successive years at $12. Their properties are 
peculiar : they lay in February ; sit and hatch 
with more certainty than common geese; will 
weigh nearly, and, in some instances, quite twice 
the weight ; have double the quantity of feath- 
ers ; never fly ; and are all of a beautiful snowy 
whiteness." 

ASIATIC OK INDIAN GEESE. 

There appear to be three or four varieties 
which will come under this denomination, viz., 
the Hong Kong — by some writers called the 
African, Guinea, and Swan goose — the Brown 
Chinese, and the White Chinese goose. The 
Indian, Mountain, and Poland are probably hy- 
brids or mongrels. 

There is an old joke about a Spanish Don, 
who knocked at a cottage-door to ask a night's 
lodging. " Who's there ? What do you want ?" 
said the inmates. "Don Juan Jose' Pedro An- 
tonio Carlos Geronimo, etc., etc., wants to sleep 
here to-night." "Get along with you!" was 
the reply; "how should we find room here for 
so many fellows?" The Chinese goose is in 
the same position as the Spanish Don. It has 
names enough, says Dixon, to fill a menagerie 
— China goose, Hong Kong goose, Knob goose, 
Swan goose, Asiatic goose, Guinea goose, Span- 
ish goose, Poland goose, Muscovy goose, and 
the Lord only knows how many more. 

Confusion, therefore, and perplexity are the 
certain lot of whosoever attempts to trace this 



252 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 




THE AFRICAN GOOSE. 



bird in our books of natural history. Its place 
of birth has excluded it from all monographs 
or limited ornithologies. In very few system- 
atic works is it mentioned at all, which is re- 
markable of a bird so striking in its appearance, 
which, there is every reason to believe, must 
have been domesticated for a long period. The 
uncertainty that has existed as to its correct 
name, and really native country, may be one 
cause of this. Like the Jews or the gipsies, it 
has not been allowed to claim a place among 
the natives of any one region ; and, like many 
others furnished with a number of aliases, it ends 
by being altogether excluded from society. 



The old writers call it the Guinea goose, for 
the excellent reason, as Willoughby hints, that 
in his time it was the fashion to apply the epi- 
thet "Guinea" to every thing of foreign and 
uncertain origin. Thus, what we at this day 
erroneously call the Muscovy duck, was then 
called the Guinea duck. 

THE AFRICAN GOOSE. 

This is the largest of the goose tribe which 
has fallen under our observation ; it is of the 
size of the swan, and it often weighs more than 
twenty-five pounds. We once possessed a pair; 
the gander, in ordinary condition, weighed over 



AQUATIC FOWLS. 



twenty-four pounds. They are noble-looking 
birds, quite ornamental about the premises, and 
add much to the scenery, particularly if a sheet 
of water be near. When floating on its surface 
they have a stately, majestic appearance, and in 
their dignified movements they certainly much 
resemble the swan. They have a deep, coarse, 
hollow voice, unlike that of any other variety. 

The appellation of Swan goose, given by 
Willoughby to this large and beautiful bird, is 
very apt ; but the Canada goose, which is at 
least as beautiful, has an equal right to the 
name; and, besides, all compound epithets 
ought to be banished from natural history. 

"The Guinea goose," says Buffon, "exceeds 
all others in stature; its plumage is a brown- 
gray, and with a brown cast on the head and 
above the neck; it resembles, therefore, the 
wild goose in its colors ; but its magnitude, and 
the prominent tubercle at the root of its bill, 
mark a small affinity to the swan ; yet it differs 
from both by its inflated throat, which hangs 
down like a pouch or little dew-lap ; a very evi- 
dent character, which has procured to these 
birds the denomination Jabotieres (from Jabot, 
the crane). Africa, and perhaps the other 
Southern countries of the old continent, seem 
to be their native abode ; and though Linnaeus 
has termed them Siberian geese, they are not 
indigenous in Siberia, but have been carried 
thither and multiplied in a state of domestica- 
tion, as in Sweden and Germany. Frisch re- 
lates that, having repeatedly shown to Russians 
geese of this kind which were reared in his 
court-yard, they all, without hesitation, called 
them Guinea geese, and not Russian or Sibe- 
rian geese. Yet has the inaccurate denomina- 
tion of Linnteus misled Brisson, who describes 
this goose under its true name of Guinea goose ; 
and again, a second time, under that of Mus- 
covy goose, without perceiving that his two de- 
scriptions refer precisely to the same bird." 

" It is somewhat larger," says Brisson, " than 
the tame goose ; the head and the top of the 
neck are brown, deeper on the upper side than 
on the under; .... on the origin of the bill 
there rises a round and fleshy tubercle ; . . . . 
under the throat also there hangs a sort of 
fleshy membrane." Klien regards this goose 



of Muscovy or Russia as a variety of the Sibe- 
rian, which, we have seen, is the same with the 
Guinea goose. "I saw," says he, "a variety 
of the Siberian goose, its throat larger, its bill 
and legs black, with a black depressed tubercle." 
Not only does this goose, though a native of 
the hot countries, multiply when domesticated 
in the coldest climates, it also contracts an affin- 
ity with the common species ; and the hybrids 
which are thus bred take the red bill and legs 
of our goose, but retain of their foreign parents 
the head, the neck, and the strong, hollow, yet 
loud voice. The clangor of these large geese 
is still more noisy than that of the ordinary 
kind, and they have many characteristics com- 
mon ; the same vigilance seems natural to them. 
" Nothing," says Frisch, " can stir in the house 
during the night but the Guinea goose will 
sound the alarm ; and in the day time they give 
the same screams if any person or animal en- 
ters the court, and often will pursue, pecking 
the legs." 

The bill, according to the remark of this 
naturalist, is armed at the edges with small in- 
dentings, and the tongue is beset with sharp 
papilla; ; the bill is black, and the tubercle which 
rises upon it is vermilion. This bird carries its 
head high as it walks, and its fine carriage and 
great bulk give it a noble air. According to 
Frisch, the skin of the little dew-lap, or pouch, 
under the throat, is neither soft nor flexible, 
but firm and hard. This account, however, 
scarcely agrees with the use which Koblin tells 
us the sailors and soldiers at the Cape make of 
it. "These wild geese at the Cape have been 
called Crop geese {pies Jabotieres). The sol- 
diers and common people of the colonies use 
their crops for tobacco-pouches ; they will hold 
about two pounds." 

Bewick has given an admirable wood-cut of 
this bird; but he has evidently selected the 
gander, which is taller and more erect than the 
female, though to both may be applied Wil- 
loughby's description : "A stately bird, walking 
with its head and neck decently erected." 
Bewick calls it the " Swan goose." The tu- 
bercle at the base of the bill, the usual length 
of neck, and its graceful carriage in the water, 
give it some claim to relationship with the aris- 



254: 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION". 



tocracy of lake and river. Cuvier goes farther ; 
calls it at once Cygnus Sinensis (Chinese Swan), 
and says that this and the Canada goose can 
not be separated from the true swan. A goose, 
however, it decidedly is, as is clear from its 
terrestrial habits, its powerful bill, its thorny 
tongue, and its diet of grass. 

Another proof is their deficient power of 
flight compared with the rest of their conge- 
ners, owing to the larger proportionate size of 
their bodies. The common domestic goose 
flies much more strongly than her sister from 
Guinea. Indeed, of all geese, these are the 
worst fliers. There is no occasion to pinion 
them. While the Canada goose thinks little 
of a journey from the North Pole, or there- 
abouts, to Carolina; while the Egyptian goose 
pays an occasional visit from Africa to Eu- 
rope ; while the merry little Laughing goose, if 
tamed, and allowed the use of its wings, is al- 
most as much at ease in the air as the pigeon ; 
the African goose, to get out of the way of a 
frisky spaniel, can hardly manage to flutter 
across the lawn. 

THE CHINESE GOOSE. 

The Chinese Goose is not only brought from 
China, but from Guinea, the Cape of Good 
Hope, and Siberia ; and it is also to be found in 
the Sandwich Islands. 

Richardson describes three sub-varieties of 
this species. First, the Hong Kong. This bird 
has a large horny knob on the bill and forehead ; 
its prevailing color is gray, with a longitudinal 
stripe of deep brown running down the back of 
the neck. The legs are of a red color, whence 
it is sometimes distinguished as the " Red-leg- 
ged Chinese goose." This is the same long 
known among us under the erroneous name of 
the "Poland goose." 

Second. Black-legged Chinese Goose. Also 
knobbed, and usually with a white edging round 
the knob, somewhat similar to that of the wild 
breed called the " White-fronted goose." 

Third. The White Chinese Goose. A very 
beautiful and showy bird, of a snow-white col- 
or, knobbed as the others, and with legs of a 
bright orange red. 

This beautiful bird, in its shape and motions 



in the water, much resembles the swan. It 
again resembles the swan in other respects. 
She glides on the watery element with her neck 
beautifully arched, her head drawn in, her breast 
just settled in the water, her tail a little raised, 
giving a light and airy appearance, moving on 
the water with apparently little or no exertion ; 
and we may say, with the poet, 

"In all her movements dignity and grace." 
Her note is loud and shrill, and she utters it 
often when an enemy appears. She is still 
more watchful than the African or Guinea 
goose. Nothing can stir about the premises at 
night but she sounds the alarm. This must 
have been the goose that is said to have saved 
the Capitol of Rome. It is delightful to see 
them, on a fine day in spring, lashing the wa- 
ter, diving, rolling over through mere fun, and 
playing all sorts of antics. Slight variations 
occur in the color of the feet and legs, some 
having them of a dull orange, others black ; a 
delicate fringe of minute white feathers is occa- 
sionally seen at the base of the bill. These pe- 
culiarities are hereditary and transmitted, but 
do not amount to more than mere varieties. 

The plumage of this goose is gray on the 
back, and darker — almost black — on the back 
side of the neck; front and under side of neck 
lighter, and tinged with a fawn color ; wings 
and tail feathers dark, and under side of body 
light-gray. Feet, legs, and bill dark slate color. 
She resembles again the swan in having a knob 
or fleshy tubercle on the base of the bill, at 
which also a narrow white strip encircles the 
mouth. 

The male is almost as much disproportionate- 
ly larger than the female as the Muscovy drake 
is in comparison with his mate. He is much 
inclined to libertine wanderings, without, how- 
ever, neglecting to pay proper attention at home. 
If there is another gander on the same prem- 
ises they are sure to disagree ; one of the two 
had better be got rid of. Both male and female 
are, perhaps, the most noisy of all geese. At 
night, as we have said before, the least footfall 
or motion in their neighborhood is sufficient to 
call forth their clanging and trumpetings. This 
to a lone country house is an advantage and a 
protection. Any fowl-stealer would be stunned 



AQUATIC FOWLS. 



255 




THE CHINESE GOOSE. 



witti their din before he captured them alive, 
and the family must be deaf indeed that could 
sleep on through the alarm thus given. 

Though a native of a warm climate, this bird 
appears very well naturalized in this country; 
the only, or greatest objection to them is their 
early laying, which often occurs in the dead of 
winter. It will couple and breed with the com- 
mon goose, but there would be no improvement 
on either side. 

The Chinese geese are much smaller than 
the common goose ; but what they lack in size 
they make up in prolificness. "They are val- 
ued in this country," says Main, " as they are in 
their own, for their early breeding and aptitude 
to fatten." They begin laying at the end of 
November, if the •season be mild, and in Janu- 
ary goslings are hatched ; and, if kept in a dry, 
warm room, may be fit for the table in April or 
May. 

The specimen from which our portrait was 
taken has been in our possession for many years. 
She was imported from China, and we obtained 



her direct from the ship, and is the one before 
spoken of in a previous page. She once com- 
menced laying in the month of November, and 
continued until she had produced over forty 
eggs. 

Some beautiful specimens of this variety were 
brought out from China by Fletcher Webster, 
Esq., and taken to the Home Farm at Marsh- 
field, some ten or twelve years ago. We also 
noticed some beautiful specimens exhibited at 
the Fair of our State Agricultural Society, held 
at Poughkeepsie a few years since, by Mr. 
Mazier, of Fishkill. 

THE WHITE CHINESE GOOSE. 

This bird is infinitely more beautiful and at- 
tractive than its dusky relations. It is larger in 
size, not quite so erect in its carriage, and bet- 
ter merits the term "cygnbides" — swan-like — 
than any other member of the species. We first 
noticed the White Chinese goose, some twen- 
ty-five years ago, at the residence of the late 
Charles Henry Hall, at Harlem, who was a great 



256 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 




THE WHITE CHINESE GOOSE. 



fancier of poultry, as well as all kinds of blood- 
ed stock, from the noble high-bred horse to a 
Bantam cock. It was brought into notice a few 
years ago in England by Mr. Alfred Whitikar, 
who speaks of it in the following words : " The 
White China goose is of a spotless, pure white, 
more swan-like than the brown variety, with a 
bright orange-colored bill, and a large orange- 
colored knob at its base. It is a particularly 
beautiful bird, either in or out of the water, its 
neck being long, slender, and gracefully arched 
when swimming. It breeds three or four times 
in a season, and its period of incubation extends 
to five weeks. They are prolific layers, but their 
eggs are small for the size of the bird, being not 
more than half the size of those of the common 
goose. The spring goslings are easily reared, 
and are a fair average quality for the table. 
The disparity in size between the sexes is con- 
siderable, often amounting to over one-third of 
their relative weights. 

" Its color, as its name indicates, is a pure, 



spotless white, which, contrasted with its yellow 
or orange-colored bill and legs, gives quite a 
pleasing effect, and it certainly deserves to rank 
in the first class of ornamental poultry." 

These geese, it is stated, formerly existed in 
the aviaries of the London Zoological Society, 
and were there considered in the light of a va- 
riety of the Anser cygnoides ; but the head- 
keeper of that establishment speaks most de- 
cidedly of his experience of the permanence, 
not only of this variety, but also of that of 
the dark-legged sorts of the brown kind, thus 
indicating three races ; which, I repeat, would 
be considered as species, were they now discov- 
ered for the first time. 

Mr. Dixon, in speaking of these birds, says : 
" They are larger than the brown Chinese geese, 
apparently more terrestrial in their habits ; the 
knob on the head is not only of greater propor- 
tions, but of a different shape. If they were 
only what is commonly meant by a variety of 
the dark sort, it is a question whether the bill 



AQUATIC FOWLS. 



257 




THE BAEJJACLE GOOSE. 



would not retain its original jet black, whatever 
change occurred to the feet and legs, instead of 
assuming a brilliant orange hue. If the bird 
were an albino the bill would be flesh-colored, 
and the eyes would be pink, not blue." 

Mr. Knight, of Erome, England, in whose 
possession they had been for three years, states 
that he has been unable to obtain any young 
from the eggs of the goose, but if he supplies 
her with eggs of the common goose, she invari- 
ably hatches and rears the goslings. Separate 
trials of each of the pair with the common 
goose and gander have been made by him un- 
successfully, although the white China goose 
lays four times in the year. Another gentle- 
man, who also had a pair of the same lot from 
China, says, "I had one good brood from the 
young pair which I kept, but since that they 
have laid so badly that I have parted with the 
females, and kept a male bird, and now get very 
good broods. My friends, to whom I have given 
young birds from my pair, also complain. The 
geese sit remarkably well, never showing them- 
selves out of the nest by day, but whether they 
may leave the nests too long in the cold of the 
night I can not tell. The time of incubation I 
consider to be about four weeks and three days. 
The young birds of the crossed breeds in ap- 
pearance follow the mother, the common En- 
glish goose, but they do remarkably well. 

"In point of longevity they are said to be 
far from equaling the domestic goose. A cross 
of the China gander with our common goose 
R 



has been strongly recommended, as producing 
finer birds, and of much finer flavor. Hybrids 
between them and the common goose are pro- 
lific with the common goose, and the second 
and third cross is much prized, particularly for 
their ganders; and in many of the flocks the 
blood of the China goose may often be traced 
by the more erect gait of the birds, accompanied 
by a faint stripe down the back of the neck." 

THE BAENACLE GOOSE. 

This bird is a native of the high northern 
latitudes of Europe, but during the winter seeks 
warmer quarters on the shores of Great Britain. 
They are shy and wary, and can only be ap- 
proached by means of the most cautious ma- 
noeuvres. 

The Barnacle breeds in Iceland, Greenland, 
and the north of Russia, and of Asia. It is of 
handsome form, standing higli on its limbs. 
The flesh is excellent, and they weigh about 
eight pounds a pair. The bill is small and 
black, with a reddish streak on each side ; the 
cheeks and throat, with the exception of a black 
line from the eye to the beak, white; head, 
neck, and shoulders black; under plumage mar- 
bled with blue, gray, black, and white; tail 
black; under parts white; legs dusky. Al- 
though the Barnacle is so shy and cautious in 
a wild state, yet when brought under a state of 
domestication, it is as tame as any of the goose 
tribe. A pair of these geese were exhibited at 
the show in New York, by R. L. Colt, Esq., of 



258 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPAN.ON. 



Paterson, New Jersey, and were the centre of 
attraction for the admiring multitude. 

Of the origin of this bird most absurd tales 
have been told. All agree that it was produced 
from a tree, but the latest and most approved 
account was that of Gerard, who in 1636 wrote 
as follows : " But what our eyes have seen, and 
hands have touched, we shall declare. There 
is a small island in Lancashire called the Pile 
of Foulders, wherein are found broken pieces 
of old broken ships, some whereof have been 
cast thither by shipwrecks, and also the trunks 
and bodies with the branches of old and rotten 
trees, cast up there likewise, wherein is found 
certain spume or froth, that in time breedeth 
into certain shells, in shape like those of the 
muscle, but sharper pointed, and of a whitish 
color; one end whereof is fastened into the in- 
side of the shell, even as the fish of oysters and 
muscles ; the other end is made fast unto the 
belly of a rude mass or lump, which in time 
cometh to the shape and form of a bird. When 
it is perfectly formed the shell gapeth open, and 
the first thing that appeareth is the aforesaid 
lace or string ; next come the legs of the bird 
hanging out, and as it groweth greater it open- 
eth the shell by degrees, till at length it is all 
come forth and hangeth only by the bill ; in 
short space after it cometh to full maturity, and 
falleth into the sea, where it gathereth feath- 
ers, and groweth to a fowl." 

Dixon remarks as follows : " Several orni- 
thological writers have lamented, with expres- 
sions of surprise, that so few of the larger water 
birds have been domesticated, and made to 
afford us a ready supply of food, in return for 
their board and lodging. But it should be re- 
membered that there are two parties to the pro- 
posed arrangement — the master and the slave. 
If the captive resolutely persists in saying, ' You 
may bestow every care upon me, and lavish 
every comfort, but I will not be the parent of a 
race of slaves, although I may show a little per- 
sonal thankfulness to yourself,' the move for us 
to make is to procure young that are ignorant 
of the fascinations of a wild life, and to endeavor 
to subdue, by kindness, their stubborn nature. 
If they remain indomitably independent, and 
refuse to yield, we are checkmated, and can 



not proceed a step farther. It is not in our 
power to increase the number of domestic birds. 
' The fear of you and the dread of you shall be 
upon every beast of the earth, and upon every 
fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the 
earth,' is a promise which will be undoubtedh r 
fulfilled; and thus, as the dominion of man 
over the earth daily and hourly extends itself, 
those creatures that refuse to enter into his 
train will be crushed, and perish beneath his 
advancing footsteps ; for ' unto your hand are 
they delivered. Every moving thing that liveth 
shall be meat for you ; even the green herb 
have I given you." 

"The Barnacle goose is one of those spe- 
cies in which the impulse of reproduction has 
at length overcome the sullenness of captivity ; 
and it is a curious fact, that instances of their 
breeding have of late increased in frequency, 
and we may therefore hope will go on increas- 
ing. The young so reared should be pinioned 
at the wrist as a precaution. The probability 
is, that they would stay at home contentedly, 
unpinioned, till hard weather came, when they 
would be tempted to leave their usual haunts 
in search of marshes, unfrozen springs, mud 
banks left by the tide, and the open sea, where 
they would be liable to be shot by sporting nat- 
uralists — a fate which has done more than any 
thing else to check the propagation of interest- 
ing birds in England — or might be induced to 
join a flock of wild birds, instead of returning 
to their former quarters. 

"Broods of five, six, and seven Barnacle 
geese have been reared ; not an inconsiderable 
increase if we only kept them to eat; but they 
have hitherto been chiefly valued as embellish- 
ments to our ponds. Their small size renders 
them suitable even for a very limited pleasure- 
ground, and they are perhaps the very prettiest 
geese that have yet appeared in our menageries. 
The lively combination of black, white, gray, 
and lavender, gives them the appearance of a 
party of ladies robed in those becoming half- 
mourning dresses that are worn from etiquette 
rather than sorrow. The female differs little 
from the male, being distinguished by voice 
and deportment more than by plumage. Their 
short bill, moderate-sized webs of their feet, and 



AQUATIC FOWLS. 



259 



rounded proportions, indicate an affinity to the 
Coreopsis. The number of eggs laid is six or 
seven, the time of incubation about a month, 
but it is difficult to name the exact period, from 
the uncertainty of knowing the precise hour 
when the process commences. The geese are 
steady sitters. The young are lively little creat- 
ures, running hither and thither, and tugging at 
the blades of grass. Their ground-color is of a 
dirty white. Their legs, feet, eyes, and short 
stump of a bill, are black. They have a gray 
spot on the crown of the head, gray patches on 
the back and wings, and a yellowish tinge about 
the fore part of the head. The old birds are 
very gentle in their disposition and habits, and 
are less noisy than most other geese. Water- 
ton mentions an instance where the gander 
paired with a Canada goose, a most dispropor- 
tionably large mate for him to select. The 
same thing has occurred in Norfolk, but in this 
case the ludicrous union M r as altogether unpro- 
ductive. 

" The young of the Barnacle goose, like those 
of the Canada, when left entirely to the guidance 
of their parents in this country, are apt to be 
attacked by a sort of erysipelatous inflammation 
of the head, similar to that from which the do- 
mestic fowl suffers so much, and which proves 
equally fatal. The eyelids swell until the bird 
is blinded ; its sufferings must be extreme, if it 
ever recover. The parts afflicted discharge copi- 
ously a watery fluid. Frequent washing with 
warm water and vinegar is the best remedy; 
and cramming the bird to keep it alive must 
be resorted to. Fills of rue-leaves, or a strong 
decoction of rue, as a tonic, have been admin- 
istered with apparent benefit. The disease 
seems epidemic rather than contagious, though 
we would not quite deny that it is so ; but of all 
remedies, warmth and dryness, particularly at 
night, are the most indispensable. Goslings 
hatched about mid-summer in the Arctic regions 
know not what it is to feel the absence of the 
sun. A Scandinavian summer's night, even in 
those latitudes where the sun does sink for an 
hour beneath the horizon, differs from the day 
in little else than stillness. There are no frosts 
succeeding a broiling day, no chilling dews 
which require hours of sunshine to remove, but 



all is, for the time, perpetually bright, and warm, 
and genial. The difference between such a 
climate and an English May must be seriously 
felt by our tender little pets, whatever care we 
may take to protect them. This clear, uninter- 
rupted day, two or three months long, of settled, 
delicious weather, gives a complete explanation 
of the apparent paradox that birds should retire 
to the regions, reported absolutely icy, of the 
north for breeding purposes. But those who 
have made the precincts of the Mediterranean 
their elysium on earth, can have no conception 
of the health, the vigor, the manly tone of mind 
and body to be inspired from hyperborean 
breezes." 

THE BRANT GOOSE. 

This and the Barnacle goose are the smallest 
of their tribe yet introduced to our aquatic avi- 
aries ; both being less in size than some ducks. 
The Brant is considered one of our most savory 
birds. In its transit from its breeding-places 
near the Arctic sea, it appears in great numbers 
on the coast of New York in the first and second 
week in October, and continues passing on to 
the south until December. Some few have 
been observed to remain all winter. They are 
again seen with us in April and May, on their 
way north, when they are in the best condition. 
They feed exclusively on Zostera marina, or eel 
grass, and other marine plants. The history 
of its migrations is not yet complete. On the 
Atlantic coast it has been observed from 73° to 
38° north. On the Facific, it appears to range 
from Columbia River, where it was seen by Mr. 
Townsend, to the 26th parallel. The Brant is 
capable of domestication, and Audubon states 
that it has been known to produce young in 
captivity, but when or where, or on what au- 
thority, is not stated. We are not advised of 
its ever having been bred in any British collec- 
tion. We have been informed that several gen- 
tlemen on Long Island have attempted, and in 
some cases have succeeded in domesticating the 
Brant, which in its wild state is highly esteemed 
for the exquisite delicacy of its flesh. Domes- 
tication, however, does not appear to have im- 
proved it much, and its small size will scarcely 
render it, except for curiosity, an object of much 



260 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 




attention, particularly in the vicinity of their 
haunts. To succeed in domestication, the most 
likely method would be, probably, to make an 
approach to their natural habits, by supplying 
them with occasional marine diet. It might 
also be expedient to assemble them in a flock 
instead of just keeping a single pair, so that 
they could consult their own individual choice 
of partners. Their picturesque effect, too, will 
be greater in this way. Their almost uniform 
color of leaden black, and their compactness of 
form, make them a striking feature in the scene, 
though they can not be compared in beauty 
with many other water-fowl. There is so little 
difference in the sexes it is not easy to distin- 
guish them. 

"Immense numbers of Brant geese," says 
Mr. St. John, "float with every tide into the bays 
formed by the bar. As the tide recedes, they 
land on the grass, and feed in close packed 
flocks. On the land, they are light, active 
birds, walking quickly, and with a graceful car- 
riage. On any alarm, before rising, they run 
together as close as they can ; thus affording a 



good chance to the sportsman, who may be 
concealed near enough, of making his shot tell 
among their heads and necks." 

THE EGYPTIAN GOOSE. 

This bird belongs to a different genus from 
any other goose. Martin observes that it con- 
stitutes one of the links between the Anatidce 
and Galatores, or waders. Its size is less than 
the common goose, and it is chiefly kept on ac- 
count of the beauty of its plumage and its sin- 
gular habits. Its Greek name, Chenolopex, sig- 
nifies fox-goose, indicative of its resemblance to 
the fox in cunning and vigilance. 

The Egyptian goose is abundant along the 
banks of the Nile, and is distributed over the 
continent of Africa generally. It also visits the 
southern shores of Europe, and is not uncom- 
monly seen in Sicily* According to Temminck 
it was this species which was held in veneration 
by the ancient Egyptians, and of which figures 
are frequently observed among the monumental 
remains of that extraordinary nation. 

The ancients regarded the eggs of this species 



AQUATIC FOWLS. 



261 



as second in flavor only to those of the Pea-fowl. 
The Egyptian goose is often kept, because of its 
beauty, in a semi-domesticated state, on orna- 
mental sheets of water, both in England and on 
the Continent, and in that condition it breeds 
freely ; hence it happens that the young, when 
fledged, often take wing, and wandering about 
on rivers or lakes, are shot ; a circumstance, as 
Mr. Gould observes, which occurs yearly. 

The habits of this goose closely resemble those 
of the rest of the tribe. The bill is long, slender, 
nearly straight, and rounded at the tip ; the up- 
per mandible is slightly curved, and the nail 
hooked (see figure). The tarsi are elongated ; 
the neck is long and slender ; the general con- 
tour compact. 

Mr. John Giles, of Woodstock, Connecticut, 
who has some of these geese, which he import- 
ed, says: "Among the truly ornamental, the 
Egyptian goose stands first. They are a part of 
the hieroglyphics of the Egyptians, a favorite 
article of food for the priests, and their eggs are 
considered of delicious flavor. They are hardy, 
and easy to raise ; laying seldom over seven 
eggs at a time. Three broods can be brought 
off in one season, by setting their first and sec- 
ond laying of eggs under a hen. They are very 
pugnacious over their nest and young, and woe 
be to the intruder. 

" The plumage of the Egyptian goose is most 
beautiful ; the base of the bill and the space sur- 
rounding the eyes is a chestnut brown ; cheeks, 
crown, chin, and throat yellowish white. The 
neck is yellowish brown, paler on the fore part, 
and on the back reddish-brown ; the upper part 
of the back, the breast, and flank pale yellowish- 
brown, minutely waved with a darker tint; the 
centre of the breast and belly nearly white, with 
a dark patch (a horse-shoe) of chestnut brown, 
where the parts may be said to join ; vent and 
under-tail coverts, buff orange ; the lower back, 
rump, upper-tail coverts, and tail black ; wings, 
as far as the greater coverts, pure white, the 
latter having a deep black bar near their tips ; 
the wing-feathers or tertials, chestnut-red, with 
grayish-brown color on the inner webs ; second- 
aries, black at the tips, and with the outer webs 
a brilliant varying green. 

"They are a rare bird, hard to be obtained, 



but when obtained, easily kept. Their weight, 
about twelve pounds per pair." 

It is a most stately and rich bird, reminding 
one of the solemn antiquity of the Nile, with its 
gorgeous mantle of golden hues and its long his- 
tory. They are very prolific, bringing off three 
broods a year, from eight to twelve each time ; 
their weight is about eight pounds each. 

GOOSE HOUSES, NESTS, ETC. 

In selecting a situation for a goose-house or 
pen, all damp must be avoided ; for geese, how- 
ever much they may like to swim in water, are 
fond at all times of a clean, dry place to sleep in. 

It is not good to keep geese with other poul- 
try ; for when confined in the poultry -yard they 
become very quarrelsome, harass and injure the 
other fowls ; therefore it is best to erect low 
sheds, with nests partitioned off, of suitable size 
to accommodate them ; and there should never 
be over eight under one roof; the large ones 
generally beat the smaller, in which case they 
should of course be separated, one from the oth- 
er, by partitions extending out some distance 
from the nests. 

The nests for hatching should be made of 
fine straw, of a circular shape, and so arranged 
that the eggs can not fall out when the goose 
turns them. From thirteen to fifteen will be as 
many as a large goose can conveniently cover. 
The ganders remain near when sitting, and seem 
to watch them as a kind of sentinel, and woe be 
to man or beast that dares approach them ; and 
they seem very anxious to see the young ones, 
that are to be born, make their appearance. 

Incubation lasts from twenty-eight to thirty 
days, and not two months, as some state, and 
the goose should have water placed near her, 
and be well fed as soon as she comes off the 
nest, that she may not be so long absent as to 
allow the eggs to cool, which might cause her 
to abandon her task. 

After twenty-eight or twenty-nine days' in- 
cubation, the goslings begin, but frequently at 
an interval of from twenty-four to forty-eight 
hours, to chip the shell. 

Like turkey-chickens, goslings must be taken 
from under the mother, lest, if feeling the young 
ones under her, she might perhaps leave the rest 



262 



THE AMEKICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



of the tardy brood still unhatched. After hay- 
ing separated them from her, they must be kept 
in a basket, lined with wool and covered with 
cloth ; and when the whole of the eggs are 
hatched, may be returned to the mother. The 
male seems to evince the same solicitude for the 
young as the mother, and will lead and take 
equal care of them. We once had a gander of 
the Chinese variety that actually took a brood 
of goslings from under a common goose, and 
brought them up with equal care. 

On the second day after they are hatched 
they may be let out after the dew is off, if the 
weather is warm, but care must be taken not to 
expose them to the scorching rays of the sun, 
which might kill them. All authors seem to 
agree on the proper food to be given them, 
which is coarse barley meal, bruised oats, bran, 
crumbs of bread soaked in milk or curdled milk, 
lettuce leaves chopped fine, or crusts of bread 
boiled in milk. In this country Indian meal 
moistened with water is generally given, but in 
our experience we have found it too laxative, 
and to counteract the effect we have moistened 
it with boiled milk, and occasionally added 
chives chopped fine. It is our opinion, how- 
ever, that more goslings are killed by over-feed- 
ing than by starving. A person who is curious 
in these affairs informed us that he had been 
most successful when he let the goslings shift 
for themselves, if the pasture was good. We 
tried a brood that way and succeeded well. 
Grass seems to be their natural food, and by 
following nature in all cases, with animals, and 
more especially with fowls, we have generally 
succeeded best. 

After they are three or four weeks old they 
may be turned out in a field or lane containing 
water. If their range is extensive they must 
be looked after, as the goose is apt to drag the 
goslings until they become cramped or tired, 
some of them squatting down and remaining at 
evening, and are seen no more. 

After the goslings are pretty well feathered 
they are too large to be brooded under the 
mother's wings, and will sleep in groups by her 
side, and must be supplied with good and re- 
newed straw to sit on, which will be converted 
into excellent manure. Beincr now able to fre- 



quent the pond and range the common at large, 
the young geese will obtain their own living ; 
and if favorably situated, nothing more need be 
allowed them excepting the vegetable produce 
of the garden. We have, however, found it a 
good practice to feed a moderate quantity of 
solid food to the young and store geese, by which 
means they are kept in a growing and fleshy 
state, and attain a larger size ; the young ones 
are also forward and valuable for breeding stock. 
Besides, feeding them, especially in the even- 
ing, on their return, attaches them to their 
home. 

There is one thing the author has learned by 
sad experience, and that is, it will not answer to 
confine goslings in a small yard ; they need ex- 
ercise and a pasture to range in. We had a fine 
brood of fourteen, nearly feathered, confined in 
our poultry-yard with other fowls. We occa- 
sionally found one sitting by or on the water, 
stupefied, dumpish, with no inclination to eat or 
stir, and would remain so for one or two days, 
and then die. After losing three in this way, 
we turned them out, and let them range over 
the pasture and visit the pond, and never lost 
one afterward. 

DISEASES. 

" Prevention is better than cure ;" so says the 
proverb. Colds and fogs are extremely against 
geese ; therefore, when young, care should be 
taken not to let them out but in fair weather, 
when they can go to their food without a leader. 

They are particularly subject to two diseases; 
the first a looseness, or diarrhea, for which 
Main recommends hot wine in which the par- 
ings of quinces, acorns, or juniper-berries are 
boiled. The second is like a giddiness, which 
makes them turn round for some time ; they 
then fall down and die, if they are not relieved 
in time. The remedy recommended by Main, 
is to bleed the bird with a pin or needle, by 
piercing a rather prominent vein situated under 
the skin which separates the claws. 

Another scourge to goslings are little insects 
which get into their ears and nostrils, which fa- 
tigue and exhaust them ; they then walk with 
their wings hanging down, and shaking their 
head. The relief proposed is to give them, on 



AQUATIC FOWLS. 



203 



their return from the fields, some corn at the 
bottom of a vessel full of clear water ; in order 
to eat it, they are obliged to plunge their head 
in the water, which compels the insects to fly 
and leave their prey. 

PLUCKING. 

Mr. Dixon's advice, that " Geese as well as 
ducks should be let out to the pond a few hours 
before execution, where they will purify and ar- 
range their feathers, as if they were going to 
their wedding instead of their death," should 
always be followed. The bird is more easily 
plucked, and the feathers are more valuable. 
Decapitation is the mode of death generally 
adopted ; but as this might injure the appear- 
ance of the bird for sale, other modes, less in- 
stantaneous, and also less merciful, are had re- 
course to. To aid plucking, the goose is often 
placed immediately after death in boiling water; 
but the appearance of the skin is more or less 
injured by that mode, therefore dry picking 
should be always had recourse to. The fat taken 
from the intestines of a goose, and converted 
into an oil, becomes a medicine of great repu- 
tation, and is considered highly efficacious to 
human as well as animal systems. 

Old, or what are termed stock-geese, may be 
plucked three, and in some seasons four times, 
allowing six weeks' interval, without inconven- 
ience. Many are of opinion that it was directly 
injuring the health of geese to pluck them. This 
operation, however, if done in a dextrous man- 
ner, and taking place before the moulting sea- 
son, a disease common to all birds, is followed 
by no inconvenience. One crop of feathers may 
be taken from the goslings, and some think it 
an advantage to them, but that could hardly be 
expected ; and it should be deferred till the gos- 
lings are three months old before they are sub- 
jected to this operation, especially to those in- 
tended to be killed early, as they would get 
lean, and lose some of their good qualities. 
Precaution should be taken when the goslings 
arc just plucked not to suffer them to go into 
the water, but merely give them drink for one 
or two days till the skin is closed. Food lias a 
great influence over the quality of the down and 
feathers, as also the care that is taken of the 



geese. Great precaution is necessary ; the feath- 
ers always bring away with them a kind of fat, 
which would give them a disagreeable smell, 
and perhaps spoil, if this was not prevented by 
putting them in the oven after the bread is 
taken out, and keeping them in a dry, airy place. 
One pound of feathers is generally estimated to 
be the produce of a common goose ; the Bremen 
and African will give more, and of a superior 
quality. None but feathers taken from live 
geese, or those just killed, should be carried to 
market ; in the last instance they must be picked 
before the bird is entirely cold ; the feathers are 
infinitely better for it. 

On the subject of plucking the living geese 
we would willingly be silent ; for the torture ex- 
perienced by the poor fowl from the too frequent 
unskillfulness and want of dexterity of the oper- 
ator must be excruciating. The skin and flesh 
are sometimes so torn as to occasion the death 
of the victim ; and even when the geese are 
plucked in the most careful manner they lose 
their flesh and appetite ; their eyes become dull, 
their wings heavy, and drag on the ground, and 
they languish in a most pitiable state during a 
longer or shorter period. Great mortality often 
occurs in flocks of geese, from sudden and im- 
prudent exposure to cold, after being stripped, 
and more especially during severe storms and 
sudden atmospheric vicissitudes. 

A writer in one of the magazines remarks 
humanely on the cruelty of picking geese, and 
proposes the following remedy : " Feathers are 
of but a year's growth, and in the moulting sea- 
son they spontaneously fall off, and are supplied 
by a fresh fleece. When, therefore, the geese 
are in full feather, let the plumage be removed, 
very close to the skin, by sharp scissors, clipping 
them off as sheep are shorn ; they will be re- 
newed at moulting in the usual course of na- 
ture. The produce would not be much reduced 
in quantity, while the quality would be greatly 
improved, and an indemnification be experi- 
enced in the consciousness of not having tor- 
tured the poor bird, and in the uninjured health 
of the fowl, and the benefit obtained in the suc- 
ceeding crop. After this operation shall have 
been performed, the down from the breast may 
be removed by the same means." 



261 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



FATTENING. 

"It is the same with the goose," says Main, 
" as with every other bird that is fattened up ; 
that moment must be laid hold of, when come 
to a complete plumpness, or they would soon get 
lean and die if they were not killed." Meal 
and skimmed milk will soon do the business : 
after ranging in the grain stubbles but little else 
will be required. These are called " green geese" 
and are most esteemed by the epicure ; they will 
then be about six weeks old, tender and fine. 

The writer of the article on poultry in " Bax- 
ter's Library of Agriculture," recommends steam- 
ed potatoes, with four quarts of ground buck- 
wheat or oats to the bushel, mashed up with the 
potatoes, and given warm. This, it is said, will 
render geese, cooped in a dark place, fat enough 
in three weeks. 

The Erench method of fattening is detailed 
very copiously by M. Parmentier. " The whole 
process," says he, "consists in plucking the 
feathers from under the belly ; in giving them 
abundance of food and drink, and in cooping 
them up more closely than is practiced with 
common fowls ; cleanliness and quiet being, 
above all, indispensable. The best time is in 



the month of November, or when the cold 
weather begins to set in. When there are but 
a few geese to fatten, they are put in a cask, in 
which holes have been bored, and through which 
they thrust their head to get their food ; but as 
this bird is voracious, and as with it hunger is 
stronger than love of liberty, it is easily fatten- 
ed, provided they are abundantly supplied witli 
wherewithal to swallow." 

The Romans considered the liver of the goose 
a great dainty, and to increase its size they fed 
(hem sixteen days on a paste of Turkey figs, 
stamped and beaten up with cream ; their livers 
would thus be brought to table, each weighing 
three or four pounds. Equal parts of the meal 
of oats, rye, and peas, mixed with skimmed 
milk, form an excellent feeding article for geese 
and ducks. 

The grand object of preparing, not geese only, 
but all kinds of poultry, for market in as short a 
time as possible, is effected solely by paying un- 
remitting attention to their wants ; in keeping 
them thoroughly clean, in supplying them with 
proper food (dry, soft, and green), water, exer- 
cise-ground, etc. They should be fed three 
times a day: and it is truly astonishing how 
soon they acquire a knowledge of the time. 




AQUATIC FOWLS. 



265 



aVW >«?5§8v 



?»* 







- - 



THE MALLARD DUCK. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

AQUATIC FOWLS. 



THE WILD MALLARD DUCK. 

This is the well-known and generally sup- 
posed original, on both continents, of our com- 
mon domestic duck, of which we have now so 
many varieties. Messrs. Cooper and Nutall 
have noticed a large wild vai-iety measuring 30 
inches. In these the primaries are white and 
the tail feathers gray. 

The Mallard is commonly found about most 
of the lakes in the interior of the State of New 
York, and also on the sea-coast. It leaves us 
in the autumn for the South, and has been ob- 
served from Mexico to the 68th parallel. 

Description. — Male. Head and neck deep 
green with a white ring or collar beneath ; neck 
and breast deep chestnut ; bill yellowish, and 
sub-equal with the head, flattened and some- 
what dilated toward the end ; upper part of 
back, wing-coverts, and quills, ash-brown of dif- 
ferent shades ; rump and upper tail-coverts 
blackish-green ; some of the outer scapulars 
chestnut, with dark transverse lines. Mirror 
with purple and green reflections. Sides of the 
rump and interior of the wings white. 

Female. Reddish-brown, spotted with dusky- 
brown ; beneath, yellowish-gray, obscurely spot- 
ted with brownish-black. When young, wholly 
brownish, varied with yellowish and blackish. 

Eminent naturalists of our own and other 



countries acquiesce in the supposition that the 
domestic duck derived its origin from the Mal- 
lard ; but other writers on the subject hold a 
different opinion. Mr. A. Williams, in a note 
to the authors of the "Poultry Book," says, 
"I do not think that our domestic varieties 
are descended from the wild. At farm-yards, 
there often occurs a cross between the two, and 
I have known the wild birds kept by a gentle- 
man whose property adjoins mine. These nev- 
er altered either in color or habits, many of 
them flying away unless pinioned." 

Mr. Dixon, in his work on poultry, has the 
following passage in strong corroboration of the 
opinions that have been expressed: "I know 
of no instance in which any one has finally suc- 
ceeded in founding a permanent tame farm- 
yard race of ducks by breeding from the Mal- 
lard, though the attempts have been number- 
less, and a few parties have been on the brink 
of success. Crosses between the wild and 
tame birds have answered better; but the prog- 
eny have retained their full share of independ- 
ent temper and movements." 

Dixon regards it as an importation from India 
and China, probably about the same period as 
witnessed the discovery of the passage by the 
Cape of Good Hope, in the year 1493; and 
we have of late years received a permanent 
variety, if not a distinct species of tame duck 



26G 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



(the Black East Indian), from the Cape or the 
South American continent. Such an importa- 
tion may be regarded as a link in the chain that 
would connect our domesticated duck with an 
Eastern origin, independent of its wild congener. 

"The squatters of the Mississippi," says Au- 
dubon, "raise a considerable number of Mal- 
lards which they catch when quite young, and 
which, after the first year, are as tame as they 
can wish. These birds raise broods which are 
superior even to those of the old ones, for a 
year or two, after which they become similar to 
the ordinary ducks of the poultry-yard. The 
hybrids produced between the Mallard and the 
Musk duck are of great size, and afford excel- 
lent eating. Some of these half breeds now 
and then wander off, become quite wild, and 
have by some persons been considered as form- 
ing a distinct species. They also breed with 
the black duck, when tamed." 

Dixon says, "This season [1849] I have 
been particularly successful in rearing the Mal- 
lard in a state of domestication. Three differ- 
ent sets of eggs, from five to nine in number, 
were brought in iy our mowers, and the greater 
part hatched under hens. The ducklings were 
shy at coming out, but as soon as their first 
feathers began to appear, they would eat from 
my hand, and follow me eagerly about the 
garden, if they saw me with a spade ; seeming 
to understand that they were about to enjoy 
their grand treat of worms. Out of many I 
reared, there were only two females — one of 
which had a singular habit of attacking me 
with great spirit and much quacking, if I at- 
tempted the capture of either of her gentlemen 
friends." 

Beautiful Mallard ! Well mayest thou be vain 
of that beautiful plumage — of those intense 
hues which rival the rare glories of the break- 
ing dawn, or the decaying twilight of autumn, 
or the intermingled dyes which tinge the stripes 
of the showeiy bow. But, alas ! the most ve- 
nial vanity will be indulged no more, for the 
red drop of death is trembling on that polished 
beak, and thy heart's blood is oozing over thy 
downy bosom. Thine affrighted mate has left 
thee to breathe out thy last gasp on the billow; 
and on the wings of fear, is now hastening away 



with the rest of thy brethren to the distant coun- 
try of thy destination. Many a time will she, 
while swimming in some lagoon with her brood 
(thy offspring), relate the cruel story of thy 
death, and caution them to make a wide circuit, 
whenever they shall chance to espy a small, sus- 
picious-looking wherry, with a long gun and a 
rough face peeping over its side, in the waters 
of the bay. She will caution them to keep 
farther out to sea along that piratical coast, and 
thereby avoid that treacherous piccaroonish sort 
of craft, which there lies in wait, between two 
billows, ready to pounce upon and pop over the 
unwary cruiser. 

THE BLACK EAST INDIAN, OR BUENOS AYKEAN 
DUCK. 

This variety is not usually met with, but de- 
serves to be better known. It is called the 
Buenos Ayres duck, but well known in En- 
gland as the " East Indian duck," sometimes 
called the " Labrador duck." 

"Why or wherefore this bird was called the 
'Labrador' duck,'" remark the authors of the 
"Poultry Book," "we are at a loss to imagine, 
since that country, as has been well observed 
by Mr. Dixon, 'however rich in wild speci- 
mens, is not likely to have given us any tame 
variety of bird.' The trivial or accidental 
name of a bird has often, however, done good 
service in exciting facts in connection with its 
history; and we diligently consulted authors 
as to any possible connection between Labrador 
and the variety of duck of which we are now 
speaking. Our search, we must confess, sup- 
plied us with but one solitary hypothesis for 
this designation, in the fact that velvet scoter, 
annus jusca, abounds on the wild coast of La- 
brador, and that a fancied resemblance between 
the deep, glossy, black plumage of these two 
birds may have suggested the name by which 
it has hitherto been commonly known. As 
such distinctions, however, only tend to perpet- 
uate error, the sooner they are discarded the 
better; and whether Buenos Ayres or the East 
Indies is the original locality from which the 
other synonyms have been obtained, either of 
these is a far preferable distinctive appellation. 
The Zoological Society, we are told, obtained 



AQUATIC FOWLS. 



267 



their specimens from the former place; but 
•whether these were original stock in that coun- 
try, or imported from the Asiatic continent, we 
know not. Nothing is more probable than that 
the Zoological Society had their birds from the 
East, via Buenos Ayres. Whether the stock 
had been introduced there a month, or twenty 
years previously, does not alter the main fact ; 
while ships direct from India would be very 
likely to land a few pairs at the first channel 
port they touched at. 

"But from whatever quarter obtained, they 
are handsome creatures. A little girl, at first 
sight of them, could not help exclaiming: 'Oh, 
what beautiful golden-green ducks !' 

" This duck is of less size and lighter than 
either the Rouen or Aylesbury breeds, the adult 
male rarely exceeding five pounds in live weight, 
while the females average but four pounds. 
Their plumage, however, is strikingly beautiful, 
and possesses the peculiarity unusual in birds 
of this genus, that the drake does not monopo- 
lize all its glories, a portion of his refulgence 
being granted to the duck. Metallic tints, vary- 
ing with the light from green to a gilded purple, 
decorate their garb of uniform velvet black, 
their bills and feet being of the same dark hue. 
Not only the neck and back, but the larger 
feathers of the tail and wings, are gilt with 
metallic green. On a sunny day of spring, the 
effect of these glittering black ducks sporting 
on the blue water is very pleasing, and adds 
much to the beauty of the scene. With all 
their brilliant combinations of color, there is a 
singularly neat and close make, and compact- 
ness of feathers, which suggests their compari- 
son, in these respects, with the Game fowl. 

" All who have kept these birds unite in ex- 
pressing their constant annoyance at the appear- 
ance of more or less white feathers after their 
first month. Mr. Nolan, indeed, remarks, that 
they often then become entirely white. This 
latter metamorphosis we never have ourselves 
witnessed, though we have frequently seen it to 
the extent of giving the bird the pied appear- 
ance. Many are also of opinion that the duck 
is more apt to exhibit this peculiarity than the 
male bird. The white feathers so produced re- 
main till the next moulting, when the bird fre- 



quently discards them altogether, and reas- 
sumes its perfect sable plumage ; they are, how- 
ever, often permanent. Impurity of blood has 
been assigned as the cause of this occasional 
drawback to their undoubted beauty ; but we 
are not yet aware of any yard, however careful- 
ly selected, that has wholly escaped the occur- 
rence of this blemish. 

"A peculiarity of these ducks is, that the 
eggs they lay in the beginning of the season 
are frequently smeared with a dark greasy mat- 
ter, which causes them to appear of a slaty, 
and sometimes even of a black hue ; but the 
color of those subsequently laid, gradually fades 
to that of the common kinds. This strange ap- 
pearance is not caused by any internal stain 
penetrating the whole thickness of the shell, 
but by an oily pigment which may be scraped 
off with the nail. In form they are elongated, 
being smooth, thin shelled, and weighing about 
two ounces. They lay, perhaps, a little later 
than other ducks, and some say a little more 
difficult to rear, being very subject to cramp; 
this will not surprise us when we remember the 
warmer tempei-ature of their original Eastern 
abode. 

" The drakes are unusually pugnacious ; and 
on that account it is impossible to keep two of 
them in the same inclosure. The imported 
birds usually pair ; but a drake from their prod- 
uce will occasionally attend to three or four 
ducks. If any complaint should be made in 
regard to unfertilized eggs, it might thus be 
explained, as in the case of the Musk duck, 
with which domestication has had a like effect. 

" They are less disposed to confinement than 
other domestic ducks, and the most suitable lo- 
cality is found for them on a piece of ornamental 
water, where, in addition to the beauty of their 
appearance, they add the farther recommenda- 
tion of the highest gratification for the table. 
For this latter purpose they require no fattening, 
and but few wild ducks are more tender or of 
higher flavor." 

THE MUSK, OK BRAZILIAN DUCK. 

Our portraits at the head of page 268 were 
furnished by a friend from specimens in his own 
yard, who says, in a note accompanying them, 



268 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 




THE JICSK, OK liUAZILIAN DUCK. 



" They are all of the same color, though I be- 
lieve not necessarily so ; a very dark, rich, blue- 
black prismatic, with every color of which blue 
is a component, and a white bar is on the wing, 
some white about the head and neck, and I 
presume are to be found of all colors ; the feath- 
ers on the back of the male are somewhat plume- 
like ; the legs and feet dark," etc., etc. 

The Muscovy duck, it appears, is only found 
in a wild state in South America. Marcgrave 
has observed it in the Brazils ; it is also a na- 
tive of Guiana. This species has, like the East 
Indian duck, been erroneously called after the 
name of a country which certainly never wit- 
nessed its existence in a wild state. The ap- 
pellation Muscovy, by which term European 
Russia is often designated, is clearly erroneous- 
ly applied to this bird, whose plumage is thought 
to emit the odor of musk, whence the trivial 
name. 

The narratives of early voyagers to the South 
American continent, and the numerous groups 



of islands which stud the Pacific Ocean, afford 
frequent allusions to these birds, which, how- 
ever variously named in such records, have suffi- 
ciently clear descriptions of their peculiar ap- 
pearance and habits to enable us to recognize 
them without difficulty. Brazil appears to have 
been one of their principal habitats ; hence one 
of the designations connected with this bird. 

The tropical regions, therefore, of South 
America, are the native country of the Musk 
duck, and the French naturalists assert that it 
is a distinct species and not a variety. The 
first point that strikes us in the Musk duck, is 
the disproportionate size of the male and female, 
the latter not exceeding five, or at the most six 
pounds live weight, while the drake frequently 
reaches nine or ten pounds. They are of vari- 
ous colors ; but commonly black, variegated 
with other colors. They are also clear white, 
slate-blue, and light yellow. The white are 
considered the prettiest, their feathers the most 
valuable, and their flesh the most delicate. 



AQUATIC FOWLS. 



2G9 



The black are deemed the handsomest, the 
most productive, and yield the finest flavored 
flesh. The black are glossed with green on the 
back, and changeable as they are exposed to the 
rays of the sun. But the first-named color 
would seem to belong to the bird in its wild 
state ; and the best specimens of the tame birds 
are of similar plumage. In the domestic state 
it exhibits every variety of color, like the com- 
mon duck. At one time the male is white, at 
another the female is white ; in other instances 
both male and female are of a lead color, yel- 
lowish, with more or less white. A crest, ele- 
vated or depressed at pleasure, rises from the 
back of the neck, and a scarlet, fleshy space 
surrounds the eye, continued from scarlet car- 
runcles at the base of the bill. The colors of 
the legs and feet vary with that of the plumage, 
being mottled in dull flesh color and black, ac- 
cording to the tints of the latter. Their figure 
is of an extremely elongated character, and the 
shortness of their legs increase their stumpy ap- 
pearance. The duck has considerable powers 
of flight ; but her mate's heavier bulk retards 
his aerial excursions. Contrary to the usual 
habits of this genus, the top of a wall, or the 
branches of a low tree are favorite resting- 
places. Its feet appear by their form to be 
more adapted to such purposes than those of 
most other ducks. If allowed to spend the 
night in the hen-house, the female will general- 
ly go to roost by the side of the hens, but the 
drake is too heavy and clumsy to mount thither 
with ease ; and thus they are certainly less 
aquatic in their habits than the other species, 
though equally disposed to cultivate a familiar 
intercourse with man. 

Travelers assert that these birds, in their 
wild state, perch on large trees that border riv- 
ers and marshes, similar to terrestrial birds ; 
they build their nests there, and as soon as their 
ducklings are hatched, the mother takes them 
one by one and drops them into the water. 
Laying takes place two or three times in a year, 
and each is from twelve to eighteen eggs, quite 
round, and of a greenish white. The moulting 
season begins in September, and is sometimes 
so complete, that the ducks, finding themselves 
almost destitute of feathers, are unable to fly, 



and let themselves be taken alive by the natives. 
These birds are as shy as our wild ducks, and 
it is by surprise alone that they are to be shot. 

Those that expect that its singular appear- 
ance would render it a curious, if not an elegant 
companion, among our most attractive ducks, 
will be disappointed ; for it will seldom go near 
the water if it can help it, but will prefer the 
farm-yard, the precincts of the kitchen, or even 
the piggery itself, to the clearest stream, that 
ever flowed. In fact, it hates water, except 
some dirty puddle to drink and drabble in. 
When thrown into a pond it gets out again as 
fast as it can. Its very short leg does not ap- 
pear to be mechanically adapted for the purpose 
of swimming. It waddles on the surface of a 
pond as much as it does on dry land ; it is evi- 
dently out of its place in either situation. 

The voice of the drake is so harsh and croak- 
ing that he has been described as if perpetually 
suffering from a sore throat ; and, contrary to 
the usual rule among their congeners, the fe- 
male is comparatively silent. 

As layers they are inferior to the Rouen or 
Aylesbury, but probably on a par with the usual 
inhabitants of the duck-pond. The eggs are 
of a dull white, and very seldom exceed three 
ounces in weight. The period of incubation is 
about five weeks. 

The male is very salacious, and pairs readily 
with tame or domestic ducks, and the birds 
thus produced are of large size, seven and eight 
pounds each being no unusual live weights. It 
is asserted, on good authority, that such hybrids 
have proved unprolific ; while others assert to 
the contrary. Out of one hundred eggs of this 
hybrid sort, M. Farmentier was able to succeed 
in hatching scarcely twenty ducklings ; and 
hence, to keep up the stock, Olivier de Serrcs 
advises to continue crossing every year, by keep- 
ing a sufficient number of Musk drakes with the 
common ducks. We are unable to ascertain 
any one instance of these hybrids having bred 
by themselves ; but suited with a bird of the 
parent species, we have little doubt that in most 
instances a prolific union would take place. 
The female will also, though not so readily, 
pair with the common drake. The hybrid has 
a deep-green plumage, and is destitute of the 



270 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



red caruncled membrane on the cheeks, as well 
as the musky odor of the rump gland of the 
Musk duck. These hybrids are of good size, 
fat readily, and are not inferior to the wild 
duck for the table, as the author can testify. 

The drake is often very pugnacious, cross, 
and quarrelsome with other poultry ; and we 
have known it to attack small children, and 
take away food from them. He manifests little 
affection to his female partner, and none to- 
ward his offspring. The possession of three or 
four mates suits him and them better than to 
be confined to the company of a single one. 
He bullies other fowls, sometimes by pulling 
their feathers, but more frequently by following 
them close, and repeatedly thrusting his face in 
their way with an offensive satyr-like expression 
of countenance ; or salaciously pursuing them, 
whether male or female, until he has accom- 
plished his purpose, or at least made an attempt. 

Though a voracious feeder, the Musk duck 
is easily fattened, a prolific breeder, and conse- 
quently may be profitably reared. It is excel- 
lent eating, if killed just before it is fully feath- 
ered, but it is longer in becoming fit for the 
table than the common duck. The flesh is at 
first high flavored and tender, but an old bird 
would be rank and tough. 

The rearing of the young of the Musk duck, 
at least in the southern parts of the United 
States, is not attended with greater difficulty 
than those of other domestic varieties ; when- 
ever, therefore, we hear of complaints being 
made to the contrary, we presume that the cold- 
er northern sections are the localities referred 
to. The finest and most healthy brood we have 
ever seen, were hatched and reared in the attic 
of a warm out-building. 

No very high opinion is entertained by us as 
regards the appearance, habits, or economy of 
this duck in the poultryiyard. The bloated 
look of the head, the inordinate length of the 
body, its awkward legs and twaddle walk, mar 
the effect of colors that are often brilliant and 
striking. 

THE WOOD DUCK. 

This is the most beautiful of the ducks known ; 
the only one approaching it being the Manda- 



rin duck of China, which, indeed, it strongly 
resembles. Its popular name of wood duck, is 
derived from the fact that it makes its nest in 
hollow trees ; and the summer duck, from remain- 
ing with us during the summer. It is only seen 
in the North during the summer months, mi- 
grating southwardly with the cold weather. It 
is familiarly known in every part of the United 
States, from Elorida to Lake Ontario. It rare- 
ly visits the sea-shore or salt marshes, its favor- 
ite haunts being the solitary, deep, and muddy 
creeks, ponds, and mill-dams of the interior, 
making its nest frequently in some old hollow 
tree that overhangs the water. 

The wood duck is equally well known in Mex- 
ico and many of the West India Islands. Dur- 
ing the whole of our winters they are occasion- 
ally seen in the States south of the Potomac. 
On the 10th of January Doughty says he met 
with two on a creek near Petersburg, Virginia. 
In the more northern districts, however, they 
are migratory. In Pennsylvania, the female 
usually begins to lay late in April or early in 
May. Instances have been known where the 
nest was constructed of a few sticks laid in a 
fork of the branches ; usually, however, in the 
hollow of a tree, which is selected for this pur- 
pose. 

The wood duck seldom flies in flocks of more 
than three or four individuals together, and 
most commonly in pairs, or singly. The com- 
mon note of the drake is Peet ! peetl but when, 
standing sentinel, he sees danger, he makes a 
noise not unlike the crowing of a young cock — 
Oe eek ! oe eek ! It breeds from Mexico to the 
Columbia River, and eastwardly to Nova Scotia. 
It has been found from 19° south to 54° north 
latitude. Its food consists of acorns, chestnuts, 
seeds of wild oats, aquatic plants, and insects. 
Its eggs yellowish-white. Their flesh is inferior 
to that of the Blue-winged teal. They are fre- 
quent in the Albany, New York, and Philadel- 
phia markets. A few years since large num- 
bers were taken in a seine on Lake Pleasant, 
and sold alive in Albany. 

Among other gaudy feathers with which the 
Indians ornament the calumet, or pipe of peace, 
the skin of the head and neck of the wood duck 
is frequently seen covering the stem. 




SUMMER DUOli. 




MA.NDAEIN DCOiiS. 



AQUATIC FOWLS. 



271 



This beautiful bird is easily domesticated, 
and soon becomes so familiar as to permit one 
to stroke its back with the hand. On a late 
visit to " Spring Side," the beautiful country- 
seat of M. Vasser, Esq., we saw in his aviary a 
pair of these birds, the duck then sitting on 
six eggs. They are also tamed in various parts 
of the Union. "Captain Boice, Collector of 
the port of Havre de Grace, informs me," says 
Wilson, " that about forty years ago, a Mr. Na- 
than Nichols, who lived on the west side of 
Gunpowder Creek, had a whole yard swimming 
with wood ducks, which had been tamed and 
completely domesticated, so that they bred and 
were as familiar as any other tame fowls ; that 
he (Captain Boice) himself saw them in that 
state, but does not know what became of them." 
Latham says that they are often kept in Eu- 
ropean manageries, and will breed there. 

Description. — The wood duck is from 19 to 
20 inches in length, and 28 inches in extent; 
bill red, strongly toothed, much hooked, shorter 
than the head, the feathers in front descending 
low, margined with black; head deep glossy- 
green; irides orange-red; front crown and pend- 
ent crest rich glossy bronze-green, ending in vi- 
olet, elegantly marked with a line of pure white 
running from the upper mandible over the eye, 
and with another band of white proceeding from 
behind the eye, both mingling their long pend- 
ent plumes with the green and violet ones, pro- 
ducing a rich effect; cheeks and sides of the 
upper neck violet ; chin, throat, and collar round 
the neck pure white, curving up in the form of 
a crescent nearly to the posterior part of the 
eye ; breast dark violet-brown, marked on the 
fore part with minute triangular spots of white, 
increasing in size until they spread into the 
white of the belly ; each side of the breast is 
bounded by a large crescent of white, and that 
again by a broader one of deep black ; sides 
under the wings thickly and beautifully marked 
with fine undulating parallel lines of black, on 
a ground of yellowish-drab ; the flanks are or- 
namented with broad alternate semicircular 
bands of black and white ; sides of the vent rich 
light-violet ; tail-coverts long, of a hair-like text- 
ure at the sides, over which they descend, and 
of a deep black glossed with green ; back dusky- 



brown, reflecting green above, below dusky; 
primaries dusky, silvery-hoary without, tipped 
with violet -blue; secondaries greenish -blue, 
tipped with white; wing-coverts violet-blue, 
tipped with black ; vent dusky ; legs and feet 
yellowish-red ; claws strong and hooked. * 

The female has the head slightly crested, 
crown dark-purple, behind the eye a bar of 
white; chin and throat, for two inches, also 
white ; head and neck dark-drab ; breast dusky- 
brown, marked with large triangular spots of 
white ; back dark bronze-brown, with some gold 
and greenish reflections. Speculum of the 
wings nearly the same as in the male, but the 
fine penciling of the sides, and the long, hair- 
like tail-coverts are wanting; the tail also is 
shorter. 

THE MANDARIN DUCK. 

A remarkably beautiful addition to our orna- 
mental water-fowl is the Mandarin Duck con- 
tributed by the Celestial Empire. In many re- 
spects it resembles our American wood duck, 
which is one of the most beautiful of the family 
of ducks, but is said to be surpassed by the 
Mandarin species, which is even more beautiful 
and gorgeous in its plumage. Of its habits we 
are not advised. The specimens from which 
our portrait was taken, which we present to our 
readers in this volume, have been bred in the 
Zoological Society's Gardens, in the Regent's 
Park, London, and were originally brought from 
Whampou, in China. 

The Mandarin drake is represented as being 
the most gorgeous in plumage of all water-fowl 
(our beautiful wood duck should be excepted). 
The top of the head is black, a color which ex- 
tends down the nape of the neck ; below is a 
clear white line, passing over the eye down the 
base of the bill, which is of a bright deep-rose 
color. The cheeks and the long pointed feath- 
ers of the neck are of a bright orange-brown. 
The upper parts of the breast and back are of a 
glossy black, and the lower white. The two 
raised feathers of the wings are orange-brown ; 
the flight-feathers are white and black. The 
tail is black, except underneath, which is white. 
The sides of the breast are greenish-orange, 
margined by a clear white line. The legs are 



272 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



a deep pink. From the middle of June to the 
middle of September the drake assumes the 
color of the duck, which is a dull olive-brown. 
He is very pugnacious, and quite a tyrant over 
the other aquatic birds. 

A fiair of these beautiful birds were imported 
by Mr. John Giles, of Woodstock, Connecticut, 
in 1854. They were sold at auction, at Bar- 
num's Museum, in December of the same year, 
for $150. They are said to have cost in En- 
gland 75 guineas (about $375). 

THE ROUEN DUCK. 

This bird derives its name from the city of 
Rouen, on the River Seine, in France, and is 
esteemed highly by epicures. It is a prolific 
bird, and lays large eggs. Its size is the cri- 
terion of its value. 

"My notion," says Dixon, "that the title 
Rouen and its aliases is only a trade name, in- 
tended to elevate the common sort into a choice 
and more remarkable variety, is confirmed by 
the omission of such a designation by Aldro-. 
vandus, and later by Buffon ; both writers who 
swept every thing into their net." 

The variety at present most in request is the 
dark-colored Rouen, originally from France, but 
common in England and this country. 

The authors of the "Poultry Book" speak of 
the Rouen duck thus : " We have given prece- 
dence to the Rouen, because we believe that, 
under ordinary circumstances, it will be found 
the most profitable variety. Its plumage, more- 
over, is of great richness. The latter, we will 
at once admit, is a point of minor consideration 
in a bird whose merits must be mainly weighed 
by its value as an economical inhabitant in the 
poultry -yard; but Avhere both these recom- 
mendations can be combined, there are few 
persons who would not be desirous of so unit- 
ing them." 

"I am confident," says Mr. Hewitt, whose 
Rouen ducks have been placed at the head of 
their class at the exhibitions for several con- 
secutive years in England, " that, when obtained 
purely bred, the Rouen is the most prolific, the 
most profit-producing of the duck tribe. They 
are the most lethargic, and consequently the 
most speedily fed of any ; but they lay great 



numbers of large eggs, an average of the weight 
of which would be 3£ ounces — always above 
three ounces. The color of the egg is a blue- 
green, the shell being considerably thicker than 
that of the Aylesbury breed. The flesh is of the 
highest possible flavor; and in first-rate speci- 
mens the supply is most profuse; for the drake 
and three ducks belonging to the writer, and 
which were so successful for several consecutive 
years at the Midland Poultry-show, when there 
weighed by the judges reached 26| pounds ; and 
this, too, when they were simply taken from the 
pond without any previous preparation. On 
another occasion, when purposely fattened, they 
attained the almost incredible weight of 34 
pounds. I have frequently known the young 
drakes, of only nine or ten weeks old, to weigh, 
when killed, 12 pounds the pair, and in some 
instances more than this. As regards their con- 
sumption of food, I have not found them to re- 
quire more than the birds of smaller varieties. 
In color, whether we consider the plumage of 
either sex, the Rouen closely assimilates to the 
wild duck. The eyes, however, are very deeply 
sunk in the head; and the ducks especially, 
even when young, have the appearance of old 
birds ; the abdominal pouch, or apron, being 
developed, as in the case of the Toulouse goose, 
at a very early age. This enlargement of the 
lower part of the body in some specimens causes 
it to rest partially on the ground — not unfre- 
quently, indeed, to the destruction of the feath- 
ers. The whole appearance of the Rouen bird 
is certainly ungainly ; but the most inconsider- 
ate observer can hardly fail of being struck with 
the size of really good specimens of this family. 
Their dull, loud, monotonous call is also dis- 
tinct from any other variety. A great diminu- 
tion in size is the invariable result of any at- 
tempt at crossing, and this becomes apparent in 
the first generation. They are as hardy as any 
other kind, and rarely evince any disposition to 
wander from the immediate vicinity of the 
homestead. So dull and lethargic, in fact, are 
they, that they are little liable to become the 
easy prey of any pilfering stroller ; or even if 
one bird is picked up, the others will scarcely 
move away. They appear to care less for wa- 
ter exercise than the other varieties." 



AQUATIC FOWLS. 



The following is a description of the adult 
plumage of both male and female : 

Drake. — Bill inclined to green, the nail and 
around the nostrils being black. Head and 
neck, as far as the white collar, which should 
be very distinct, brilliant iridescent green ; 
throat and breast claret-brown ; back, scapulars, 
and thighs gray, with minute wavy dark lines 
at right angles to the shaft of the feather ; tail 
brown, with the outer edge of the feathers white, 
forming a broad margin of that color, the three 
centre feathers being curled ; primaries brown ; 
secondaries with a bar of bright steel-blue form- 
ing the speculum, the band of black, the ex- 
tremities being tipped with white ; lesser wing- 
coverts rich brown ; greater wing-coverts the 
same, with a narrow white margin ; under part 
of the body gray, with the same wavy dotted 
lines as on the back ; legs and feet orange. 

The duck has a uniform plumage of rich brown, 
every feather being more or less marked with 
black ; bill, legs, and feet dusky ; irides light- 
brown in both sexes. 

The Rouen duck has been usually spoken of 
as a late layer, but this is entirely contrary to 
what has happened with us, for we have found 
the old birds good egg-producers in autumn, 
even before their moult has been completed ; in 
this respect, indeed, the} 7 resemble the Shanghai 
fowl. With some cessation in mid-winter, they 
recommence at a period when others of their 
species have only just begun. Even the young 
ducks of the year are singularly prolific ; those 
hatched in March will sometimes commence 
laying the latter part of August or first of Sep- 
tember, and continue to give from three to four 
eggs per week till October. 

The colors of the Rouen duckling, when first 
hatched, are a yellowish-brown body color, with 
patches of yellow upon the face, breast, and 
wing, a dark line passing along the side of the 
face about the eye. At two weeks old, these 
colors have become blended and indistinct, and 
so remain till the feathers take the place of down. 

Is the Rouen duck specifically distinct from 
the common brown duck of the farm-yard ? Mr. 
Furneaux inclines to the opinion that it is but 
a cultivated sub-variety of the common duck. 

The peculiarity of voice which has always 
S 



been noticed, the deep greenish-blue tint of the 
egg, and the great bulk of the body, resembling 
a pillow or bolster supported on two sticks (for 
the indentation of outline before and behind 
the legs suggests the simile), favor the idea of 
at least a permanent variety; though whether 
it may amount to specific difference we will not 
undertake to decide. 

It is indisputable that the most hardy variety 
of duck is the Rouen ; and from this cause it is 
that they are frequently kept with a degree of 
profit and success very rarely attained where 
other kinds are preferred. 

Of all kinds of ducks the Rouen seems the 
most useful; and at the same time, there are 
very few parties who will not freely admit that 
for beauty of plumage, few, if any, excel them. 
They commence laying sooner in the spring 
than any other ducks; are infinitely more hardy 
than the Aylesbury, even when kept on the same 
farm ; and, indeed, bear well trials from keen 
and inclement weather that would quickly de- 
stroy all hopes of immediate benefit from the 
more docile breeds. 

The Rouen ducks lay very freely if the eggs 
are removed, and the eggs are readily incubated 
by common hens ; but for brood stock, ducks 
should only be used for rearing them, or in after 
time the drakes will be one of the most trouble- 
some pests in the whole yard. It will be well 
for new beginners to pay the fullest attention 
to these last remarks, as it will prevent much 
vexation and disappointment, and perhaps an 
equally unfavorable ebullition of temper in them- 
selves ; therefore, except for killing, let the 
ducks themselves watch their own offspring — a 
duty they will accomplish with carefulness, per- 
severance, and success. The flavor of the Rouen 
duck is really most excellent, being surpassed 
by none others. Incredible weights have like- 
wise been attained by some birds of this variety. 
At one of the Birmingham shows, a drake and 
three ducks of this kind were tested by the 
judges with scales, against all other kinds then 
present, and exceeded the most weighty of their 
rivals by nearly four pounds; their own weight, 
though then simply taken from the pond, with- 
out any extra feeding, was twenty-six pounds 
and three-quarters. 



274 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



A singular trait of character in this variety 
is, that the duck closely approximates in size to 
the drake, and not unfrequently is the most 
weighty of the two ; while in most other kinds, 
the disparity of size is glaringly obvious, and 
tells much against the value for consumption. 
One of the most general objections to ducks is 
their sad propensity to stray away and get lost, 
more especially if in the neighborhood of large 
rivers or other running streams ; and it is, there- 
fore, by no means unusual for parties, when this 
occurred frequently, to give up all desire for this 
really profitable kind of stock, in a spirit of utter 
hopelessness and despair. To those persons the 
Rouens will prove themselves a treasure, for 
they are the most determined "stay-at-home" 
birds possible. They never ramble at all ex- 
cept near home, but appear dull and lethargic, 
which accounts for the little difficulty and ex- 
pense in feeding ; they eat no more than others, 
and attain their very superior size and weight 
in an equally short period of time. 

When it is considered how great pecuniary 
benefit may be obtained, by the keeping of a few 
ducks, to the general farmer, it will be readily 
admitted that, to the humble cottager, the boon 
will be still more highly valuable, as ducks 
speedily arrive at a condition for market, and 
when there offered, generally command the 
quickest and most universal sale of any other 
poultry whatever ; they are reared more read- 
ily, and will eat food of almost any kind. It 
should always, however, be kept in remem- 
brance, that the quality of the flesh is highly 
dependent on the nature of their food; there- 
fore a proper care on this point is essentially 
necessary. I feel certain that if a common de- 
gree of care, attention, and regularity of feed- 
ing are adopted with ducks, they will remuner- 
ate the owner as well as any poultry he may 
bring before the public. 

The Rouen ducks are generally larger than 
the Aylesbury, and heavier. The plumage of 
this bird much resembles the wild duck; the 
drake's especially is magnificent, its head and 
neck being a rich, lustrous green, with a white 
ring at the base of the neck, breast a reddish 
brown, the remainder of the body and wings 
partaking very greatly of the colors of the wild 



Mallard. The duck is a brown bird, the feath- 
ers being all marked with black ; she has, at a 
very early age, a great development of her 
"stomach pouch," which frequently hangs so 
low as to impede the action of the bird ; from 
this and other causes, the Rouen is a less act- 
ive variety than the Aylesbury, and for the same 
cause does not make a good sitter, being too 
heavy for the young birds when hatching. The 
eggs laid by these birds generally exceed in 
number those laid by the Aylesbury ; indeed, the 
duck is almost a continuous layer; but not 
making a good mother for the cause above stat- 
ed, her eggs should be placed under a hen. 

The demand for ducks being very much 
smaller than for fowls, one drake and three or 
four ducks will be sufficient for most farmers. 
The Rouen will do better without water than 
the Aylesbury ; but a pond deep enough for 
them to swim in, is so essential for both ducks 
and geese that no farmer should attempt keep- 
ing them without it. 

The young ducks are reared, provided they 
are not allowed to get into any water for some 
time after they are hatched ; and although this 
time may not be accurately defined, if six weeks 
are allowed to elapse, the birds will be found to 
have gained most considerably in weight and size 
over those which have frequented a pond, as the 
time employed in swimming is then occupied 
in sitting still and getting fat. All ducks are 
great eaters, and most industrious little bodies 
in procuring their food from water-courses, al- 
ways thirsty, as one Avould suppose, from the 
greediness with which they sputter. Notwith- 
standing, the young will certainly repay the cost 
by their rapid growth. 

THE AYLESBURY DUCK. 

Of white ducks the best are the Aylesbury, 
with its unspotted snowy-white plumage, and 
yellow legs and feet. It is large and excellent 
for the table, but not larger or better than sev- 
eral others. They are assiduous mothers and 
nurses, especially after the experience of two or 
three years. A much smaller race of white 
ducks is imported from Holland ; their chief 
merit, indicated by the title of Call Duck, con- 
sists in their incessant loquacity. The white 



AQUATIC FOWLS. 



Call duck has a yellow orange-colored bill ; that 
of the Aylesbury should be flesh-colored. 

Mr. John Giles, of Woodstock, Connecticut, 
who has probably had as much, if not more, ex- 
perience in the breeding and management of 
fowls of all descriptions than any other fowl- 
fancier in this country, says of the Aylesbury 
duck : " The breed I brought out with me from 
England are white, with white bills; their flesh 
is of a beautiful white, weighing from eight to 
ten pounds per pair when full grown. They 
are considered a rarity in London, command- 
ing one-third more price than any other ducks 
brought to market." 

" The white Aylesbury ducks are a beautiful 
and ornamental stock," says Mowbray, "match- 
ing in color with the Embden (Bremen) geese. 
They are said to be early layers and breeders. 
Vast quantities are fattened for the London 
markets, where they are in great demand. 
Many families derive a comfortable living from 
breeding and rearing ducks, the greater part of 
which, the early ones at all events, are actually 
reared by hand. The interior of the cottages 
of those who follow this occupation presents a 
very curious appearance to the stranger, being 
furnished with boxes fo'r the protection of the 
tender charge of the goodwife, whose whole 
time and attention is taken up with this branch 
of domestic economy." 

Browne says, "The English, or Aylesbury 
white variety, though handsome and strong, is 
inferior in flavor, the flesh being too light col- 
ored and 'chickeny,' as it is termed. Great 
numbers of these fowls, however, are fattened 
in Buckinghamshire, England, for the London 
markets, where, in consequence of their size, 
they command high prices." 

The heaviest specimens of the Bouen duck 
exceed, in respect of weight, those of the Ayles- 
bury breed, the latter being a bird of less 
breadth, though equaling the former in length. 
Plumage of unspotted white, a pale, flesh-col- 
ored bill, a dark, prominent eye, with orange 
legs, are the characteristics of this race, whose 
name is derived from the town of Aylesbury, in 
which neighborhood they arc kept in large num- 
bers for the supply of the London markets. The 
weight of the adult Avlesburv duck should at 



least average, if properly fed, from ten to twelve 
pounds the pair (duck and drake). Instances, 
however, have occurred where the drakes have 
come up to eight pounds and upward, and would, 
in all probability, if fattened, reach ten pounds 
each. They are very prolific layers. From two 
of these ducks 300 eggs have been obtained in 
the course of twelve months ; in addition to 
which, one of them sat twice, the other only 
once, the three nests giving thirty young ones. 
The eggs vary in color, some being white, while 
others are of pale blue. .As a farther recom- 
mendation for them, in an economical point of 
view, it is argued that their consumption of 
food is less than that of the common duck; and 
another advantage may be found in their com- 
parative silence from the continuous "quack, 
quack, quack," of the latter bird. They also 
attain greater weight in less time ; and, from 
their superior appearance when plucked, are a 
far more marketable article. 

The carriage of the Aylesbury duck is more 
upright than that of the Bouen ; the eye, of 
which the iris is dark-gray, being also more 
prominent; and, as might be anticipated from 
its greater powers of locomotion, the bird is by 
no means addicted to such stay-at-home hab- 
its. 

It has been stated that the eggs of the Ayles- 
bury ducks are of a pale-blue tint; the usual 
color, however, is a dull French white, the sur- 
face being smoother than that of the Bouen, 
but the shell more brittle. Average weight 
about three ounces. They are better sitters, 
and also, from their lighter form, better nurses 
than the latter. 

It is not necessary here to enter into the ques- 
tion of the origin of these varieties; the}' are 
now so distinct from any other as to be easily 
distinguished by any one desirous of obtaining 
them. 

The Aylesbury duck is a pure white, with 
flesh-colored bill and orange-colored leLjs. In 
birds of about two years old, the bill frequent- 
ly becomes marked witli dark blotches, which 
is considered a great disfigurement. The duck 
is a good layer, commencing early in the year, 
and should be allowed to sit on thirteen 



27G 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 




THE CHESTED DUCK. 



THE CEESTED DUCK. 

This is a beautiful and ornamental variety. 
They are of all colors, having in fact no other 
common features. "We have had them pure 
white, black, and mixed black and white, with 
large turbans, or top-knots. The duck from 
which our portrait was taken, is a fair specimen 
of the pied ones. The white are considered the 
most beautiful, as they have yellow bills and legs. 
We are not advised of the origin of this variety. 
Mr. Brent regards them as probable descend- 
ants of the Australian tufted ducks, of which 
more than one variety is said to exist in that 
country. Many may have been thus bred ; but 
the accidental appearance of the tuft on the 
goose, of which bird we have no rumor even of 
any variety thus uniformly decorated, suggests 
the probability of the duck having obtained its 
head-dress in a similar accidental manner. The 
top-knot of the latter, however, is in general 
proportionably larger, and more spherical than 
that of any geese we have ever yet seen, 
sometimes, though placed on the back of the 
head, even rivaling in form that of the Polish 
hen. 



Main speaks of the "Red-crested duck," from 
New Zealand, but which is not common there. 
A red crest grows on the head ; a very glossy 
black-gray is predominant on the back, and a 
deep grayish soot-color on the belly; the bill 
and legs are lead-color, the irides golden. 

Latham also speaks of the Crested duck, 
and says, "This inhabitant of the extremity of 
America is of the size of the wild duck, but is 
much longer, for it measures twenty-five inches 
in length ; a tuft adorns its head ; a straw-yel- 
low, mixed with rusty-colored spots, is spread 
over the throat and front of the neck; the wing 
speculum blue beneath, edged with white; the 
bill, wing, and tail are black ; irides red, and all 
the rest of the body ashy-gray." 

It is a question, therefore, not easily an- 
swered, whether the domestic Crested duck has 
been produced from a cross of our wood duck, 
or from the above-mentioned variety. If it 
sprung from either, its size would indicate that 
the one mentioned by Latham would appear 
the most likely to produce them. 

Very fine specimens of Crested ducks have 
been exhibited at the different meetings of the 
Poultry and Agricultural Societies. 



AQUATIC FOWLS. 



277 



THE HOOK-BILLED DUCK. 

Many early writers refer to this species, the 
singularity of whose appearance would secure 
attention in the days when real utility so often 
yielded to what merely gratified curiosity. 

Description. — The hill is of large size, and 
turned downward, not upward, as some writers 
have it ; hut Roman-nosed ducks, in short, with 
features of a most grotesque and ludicrous ap- 
pearance. The plumage usually white, with a 
large top-knot ; but colored specimens are not 
unfrequent. Holland is the source from which 
these birds are commonly derived; and it is said 
that they pair like wild ducks, and manifest a 
decided disinclination to associate with other 
ducks. 

Dixon says, "Hooked-billed ducks are no- 
thing new." Albin, in 1738, published colored 
figures of both sexes, which look much as if 
they had a right to claim the rank of a species. 
The lines of small white specks on the head, 
as he describes them, are remarkable. The bill 
has some resemblance to the Flamingo. He says 
these ducks are better layers than any of the 
other, either the wild or tame. 

We are not aware of ever having seen or 
tasted one ; but they are said to possess quali- 
ties for the table, in addition to the recommend- 
ation of being both hardy and good layers. 

THE PENGUIN DUCK. 

This variety or species of duck are nearly as 
strange as the Hook-billed. The birds thus 
designated have a peculiar upright gait, some- 
what resembling the Penguin. But it is not 
strikingly apparent when they are in an ordi- 
nary frame of mind. A sudden fright makes 
them raise their heads, as it will many other 
birds. They are usually of dull colors ; and, 
from all we can learn, wholly devoid of any 
merits to compensate for their uncouth appear- 
ance. Nolan states that they are imported from 
Bombay, and are the common domestic duck of 
that country. 

THE CANVAS-BACK DUCK. 

This celebrated variety of duck is a native 
of America, and, as far as can be judged from 



the best figures and descriptions of foreign 
birds, is altogether unknown in Europe. It 
probably received its name from the peculiar 
color of the feathers on the back, which very 
much resembles coarse canvas. It approaches 
nearest to the Pochard of England, AnasFerina; 
but differs from that bird in being superior in 
size and weight, in the greater magnitude of its 
bill, and the general whiteness of its plumage. 
The Pochard, according to Latham, measures 
10 inches in length, and 80 in extent, and 
weighs If- pound. The Canvas-back measures 
2 feet in length, and 3 feet in extent, and, when 
in best condition, weighs three pounds and up- 
ward. 

Bewick says of the Pochard : " The plumage, 
above and below, is wholly covered with pret- 
tily-freckled, slender, dusky threads, disposed 
transversely in close zigzag lines, on a pale 
ground, more or less shaded off with ash :" a 
description much more applicable to the bird 
figured beside it, the Red-head, and which is 
very probably the species meant. In the Poch- 
ard, given by Bewick, who is generally correct, 
the bill agrees very well with that of our Red- 
head, but is scarcely half the size and thickness 
of that of the Canvas-back. 

The Canvas-back, in the peculiarly rich, juicy 
tenderness of its flesh, and its delicacy and fla- 
vor, stands unrivaled by the whole of its tribe, 
in this or perhaps any other quarter of the 
world. Those killed in the waters of the Ches- 
apeake are generally esteemed superior to all 
others, doubtless from the great abundance of 
their favorite food which is there produced. 
It is well ascertained that they feed on a bulb- 
ous root, or a grass Avhich grows on the flats, 
and has very much the color and flavor of gar- 
den celery : it is to this food that has been at- 
tributed, and we believe correctly, the peculiar 
delicious flavor of their flesh. This plant, which 
is said to be a species of Vallissincria, grows on 
fresh-Avater shoals, is from 7 to 9 feet long, 
having narrow, grass-like blades of 4 or 5 feet ; 
and with great strength and agility the Canvas- 
backs seize the grass near the bottom, bringing 
it up, root and branch, to the surface, where 
they bite off the root, leaving the long herba- 
ceous part to float on the Avater. 



278 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



"It is a circumstance calculated to excite 
our surprise," says Wilson, in his "Ornithology," 
"that the Canvas-back duck, one of the com- 
monest species of our country — a duck which 
frequents the waters of the Chesapeake in flocks 
of countless thousands — should yet have been 
either overlooked by the naturalists of Europe, or 
confounded with the Pochard, a species whose 
characters are so obviously different. But this is 
the fact, I feel well assured, since I have care- 
fully examined every author of repute to which 
I have access, and have not been enabled to 
find any description which will correspond to 
the subject before us." The species, then, we 
hope, will stand as Wilson's own ; and it is no 
small addition to the fame of American orni- 
thology, that it contains the first scientific ac- 
count of the finest duck that any country can 
boast of. 

The Canvas-back duck is 2 feet long, and 3 
feet in extent, and when in good order, weighs 
3 pounds. The bill is very large, rising high in 
the head, 3 inches in length, and If inch thick 
at the base, of a glossy black ; eye very small ; 
irides dark-red ; cheeks and fore part of the 
head blackish-brown ; rest of the head, and 
greater part of the neck, dark-cinnamon, or a 
bright glossy reddish-chestnut, ending in a broad 
space of black that covers the upper part of the 
breast, and spreads round to the back; back 
scapidars and tertials white, faintly marked 
with an infinite number of transverse waving 
lines or points of the breast; also the belly 
white, slightly penciled in the same manner, 
scarcely perceptible on the breast, pretty thick 
toward the vent; wing-coverts gray, with nu- 
merous specks of black ; primaries and sec- 
ondaries pale slate, two or three of the latter 
of which nearest the body are finely edged with 
deep velvety - black, the former dusky at the 
tips ; tail very short, pointed, consisting of four- 
teen feathers of a hoary-brown ; vent and tail- 
coverts black ; lining of the wing white; legs and 
feet very pale ash, the latter three inches in 
width — a circumstance which partly accounts 
for its powers of swimming. 

The female is somewhat less than the male, 
and weighs 2f pounds ; the crown is blackish- 
brown ; cheeks and throat of a pale drab ; ne°k 



dull brown ; breast, as far as the black extends 
on the male, dull brown, skirted in places with 
pale drab ; back dusty white, crossed with fine 
waving lines ; belly of the same dull white, pen- 
ciled like the back ; wings, feet, and bill as in 
the male ; tail-coverts dusky ; vent white, waved 
with brown. 

The Canvas-back duck arrives in the United 
States from the north about the middle of Oc- 
tober ; a few descend to the Hudson and Dela- 
ware, but the great body of these birds resort 
to the numerous rivers belonging to and in the 
neighborhood of the Chesapeake Bay, particu- 
larly the Susquehanna, the Petapsco, Potomac, 
and James rivers, which appear to be their gen- 
eral rendezvous. Beyond this, to the south, 
I can find no certain accounts of them. On 
the Delaware they are called Red-heads, on the 
Susquehanna Canvas - backs, on the Potomac 
White-backs, and on James River Sheldrakes. 

They are seldom found as far north as the 
Hudson, or at a great distance up any of these 
rivers, or even in the salt-water bay ; but in that 
particular part of tide-water where a certain 
grass-like plant (Vattssineria) grows, on the 
roots of which they feed. Where this plant is 
found there will the ducks be; and they will 
frequently venture within reach of their ene- 
my's gun rather than abstain from the gratifica- 
tion of their appetite for this delicious food. 

The Canvas-back duck will feed readily on 
grain, especially wheat, and may be decoyed to 
particular places by baiting them with that 
grain for several successive days. Some few 
years since a vessel, loaded 'with wheat, was 
wrecked near the entrance of Great Egg Har- 
bor in the autumn, and went to pieces. The 
wheat floated out in vast quantities, and the 
whole surface of the bay was in a few days cov- 
ered with ducks of a kind altogether unknown 
to the people of that quarter. The gunners 
called them Sea ducks. They were all Canvas- 
backs, at that time on their way from the north, 
when this floating feast attracted their atten- 
tion, and for a while arrested them in their 
course. 

We have been informed that attempts have 
been made to domesticate the Canvas-back 
duck, but we have not learned with what sue- 



AQUATIC FOWLS. 



279 



cess. We have seen in the yard of Mr. George 
Law, of Baltimore, a half-blood — a cross of the 
Canvas-back and the common duck. She was 
timid, shy, and seemed to retain many of the 
wild habits, and did not seem to care for the 
company of the other ducks in the yard. 

At our public dinners, hotels, and particular 
entertainments, the Canvas-backs are universal 
favorites. They not only grace but dignify the 
table, and their very name conveys to the im- 
agination of the eager epicure the most pleas- 
ing and exhilai-ating ideas. Hence, on such 
occasions, it has not been uncommon to pay 
from one to three, and even five dollars per 
pair for these dueks ; and, indeed, at such times, 
if they can they must be had, whatever may be 
the price. 

As the Red-heads are so frequently imposed 
on purchasers for the Canvas-back, we have 
thought it advisable to introduce both birds in 
the same plate, where it will be seen that the 
distinguishing marks are chiefly confined to the 
bill, eyes, head, and size of the bird, and hav- 
ing a bright-red over the whole head. 

THE RED-HEADED DUCK. 

"This," says Wilson, "is a common asso- 
ciate of the Canvas-back, frequenting the same 
places, and feeding on the sterns of the same 
grass, the latter eating on the roots ; its flesh is 
very little inferior, and it is often sold in our 
markets for the Canvas-back to those unac- 
quainted with the characteristic marks of each. 
Anxious as I am to determine precisely whether 
this species be the Red-headed widgeon, Poch- 
ard, or Dun bird of England, I have not been 
able to ascertain the point to my own satisfac- 
tion ; though I think it very probably the same, 
the size, extent, and general description of the 
Pochard agreeing pretty nearly with this. 

"The Red-head is twenty inches in length, 
and two feet six inches in extent; bill dark 
slate, sometimes black, two inches long, and 
seven-eighths of an inch thick at the base, fur- 
nished with a large broad nail at the extrem- 
ity; irides flame-colored; plumage of the head 
long, velvety, and inflated, running high above 
the base of the bill ; head, and about two inch- 
es of the neck, deep glossy reddish-chestnut; 



rest of the neck and upper part of the breast 
black, spreading round to the back ; belly white, 
becoming dusky toward the vent by closely- 
marked undulating lines of black; back and 
scapulars bluish -white, rendered gray by nu- 
merous tranverse waving lines of black ; lesser 
wing-coverts brownish-black; wing quills very 
pale slate, dusky at the tips ; lower part of the 
back, and sides under the wings, brownish-black, 
crossed with regular zigzag lines of whitish ; 
vent, rump, tail, and tail-coverts, black; legs 
and feet dark ash. 

"The female has the upper part of the head 
dusky brown, rest o"f the head and part of the 
neck a light sooty-brown ; upper part of the 
breast ashy-brown, broadly skirted with whitish ; 
back dark ash, with little or no appearance of 
white penciling; wings, bill, and feet nearly 
alike in both sexes." 

This duck is sometimes met with in the rivers 
of North or South Carolina, and also in those 
of Jersey and New York ; but always in fresh 
water, and usually at no great distance from 
the sea. It is most numerous in the waters 
of the Chesapeake, and, with the connoisseurs 
in good eating, ranks next in excellence to the 
Canvas-back. Its usual weight is about 1-J 
pound avoirdupois. 

The Red-head leaves the bay and its tribu- 
tary streams in March, and is not seen until 
late in October. 

THE DUCK. 

The common duck is so well known that a 
description is hardly necessary. In regard to 
the origin of the common farm-yard duck but 
one leading opinion seems to have prevailed in 
all the compilations from Aldrovandus down 
to Audubon — that it is nothing more than 
the tame descendant of the common wild duck 
{Anas boschas) of Europe, or the Mallard. It 
is generally dark-brown or gray, and the wings 
and throat sometimes ornamented with change- 
able purple. The drakes of all sorts may b<j 
distinguished by the curled feathers in their 
tails. 

Though little can be elicited as to the origin 
of the tame duck, we still possess birds in this 
class presenting features quite as distinct as any 



280 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



in the various races of fowls, and even to a 
greater extent than appear in geese.- These 
varieties may be thus stated : 

The Rouen duck, The Muscovy duck, 

The Aylesbury duck, The Crested duck, 

The Common duck, The Buenos-Ayrean duck. 

We give precedence to the Rouen duck, be- 
cause we believe that, under ordinary circum- 
stances, it will be found the most profitable va- 
riety. Its plumage, moreover, is of great rich- 
ness. The latter, we will admit, is a point of 
minor consideration in a bird whose merits 
must be weighed by its value as an econom- 
ical inhabitant of the poultry-yard; but where 
both these recommendations can be combined, 
there are few persons who would not be desir- 
ous of so uniting them. 

Ducks generally are very prolific in eggs. 
Mowbray says they are good la} - ers (one, the 
property of Mr. Morell, laid an egg every day 
for eighty-five successive days), and that a duck 
has been known to lay, in the autumn, dur- 
ing forty-six nights in succession, after which 
she continued to lay every other night. " The 
Rouen duck," say the authors of the "Poultry 
Book," " has usually been spoken of as a late 
layer; but this is entirely contrary to what has 
happened with us, for we have found the old 
birds good egg-producers in autumn, even be- 
fore their moult has been completed : in this 
respect, indeed, they resemble the Shanghai 
fowl. With some cessation in mid-winter, they 
recommence in January and February, at a pe- 
riod when others of their species have only just 
begun. Even the young ducks of the year are 
singularly prolific ; some of our own, hatched 
this March (1853), laid in the latter part of Au- 
gust, and have continued giving us three or four 
eggs per week to the present time (October)." 

" We have one Rouen drake and three ducks," 
says Mr. Punchard ; " the latter commenced 
laying in February (1853), and up to July laid 
334 eggs, besides a few soft, and five double 
ones. One of the ducks laid every morning for 
ninety-two consecutive days, and never desired 
to sit." 

Like those varieties of fowls that pass by the 
name of "Everlasting -layers" — such as the 
Spanish, the Polish, and the Hamburgs — the 



production of eggs is the object to which the 
natural powers of the Rouen duck are mainly 
directed. 

The egg of the duck is by some people very 
much relished, having a rich flavor, which gives 
it a decided superiority over the egg of the com- 
mon fowl; and these qualities render it much 
in request with the pastry-cook and confection- 
er — three duck eggs being equal, in culinary 
value, to six hen eggs. 

The duck possesses many excellent qualities. 
They were great favorites with the ancients, 
from the mildness and simplicity of their char- 
acter, from their great fecundity, and from the 
cheapness and ease with which they are pro- 
vided for. The feathers of the white sort are 
excellent, and will compare favorably with those 
of the goose. 

The inoffensive and harmless character, the 
social and conversational qualities of ducks, 
render them not only pleasant but profitable 
birds to keep; and the contrast between them 
and chickens, in their nature and habits, is much 
in their favor. The manners and actions of the 
duck, whether upon land or water, are curious 
and pleasant. Their regular afternoon parade 
and march in single line, the elder drakes and 
ducks in front, from the pond homeward, is a 
beautiful country spectacle, to be enjoyed by 
those who have a relish for the charms of sim- 
ple nature. A parcel of ducks, which had been 
accustomed to their liberty, were, for some par- 
ticular reasons, shut up for several hours. On 
the door of their house being opened they rush- 
ed out, threw themselves into rank-and-file, 
soldier-like, and marched, with rather a quick 
step, three or four times round a certain space, 
constantly bowing their heads to the ground, 
then elevating them and fluttering their wings ; 
the ceremony finished, they quietly adjourned 
to the water. We have laughed a thousand 
times at the conceit with which our boyish im- 
agination was impressed ; namely, that the act 
we had witnessed was nothing less than a duck- 
ish thanksgiving for their deliverance. 

Of the kind and social nature of the duck, 
the following is related by Mowbray: "We had 
drawn off for the table the whole of a lot of 
ducks, one excepted. This duck immediately 



AQUATIC FOWLS. 



281 



joined a cock and hen, and became so attached 
to them that it never willingly quitted their com- 
pany, notwithstanding some harsh usage, par- 
ticularly from the cock. It would neither feed 
nor rest without them, and showed its uneasi- 
ness at their occasional absence by continual 
clamor." 

We once had an individual duck of the crested 
variety, which, after losing its mate, would keep 
with a few particular fowls during the day, and 
at night, when the fowls went to rest, she would 
follow up the stairs into the second story of the 
poultry-house, and sit as near the fowls as she 
could get. But after we had placed a few 
African geese in the yard, she left the hens and 
contracted an intimacy with the geese, keeping 
constantly with them. 

Ducks thrive best, and are cleanest in the 
neighborhood of water, such as a pond or stream 
of water, swamps or marshes, as where there is 
an abundance of water they will find the greater 
part of their living. They are the most indus- 
trious of all the fowl tribe, and we have often 
gazed on them with admiration to see them 
sputter ins hallow, and dive down in deep water. 
Ducks are carnivorous as well as granivorous ; 
they will thrive on flesh and garbage of any 
kind like the chicken ; yet water insects, weeds, 
vegetables, and corn, are their general food. 
They are also very fond of fish, and will greedily 
devour it even when partly decomposed ; this, 
of course, will impart a bad flavor to their flesh 
if continued. In respect to food, ducks may be 
almost termed omnivorous ; for few things come 
amiss to them. Slugs, worms, and aquatic in- 
sects, form a large portion of their sustenance 
when kept in suitable localities ; but since grass 
and herbage go but a little way to satisfy their 
appetites, they are, comparatively speaking, far 
more expensive to keep than geese. The ref- 
use of the kitchen-garden is eagerly devoured, 
and where grass is not attainable, must be regu- 
larly supplied. When feeding for the table, a 
portion of skim-milk with their meal forwards 
them very rapidly. 

Habitation. — The duck-house should, if pos- 
sible, be of brick, and paved with the same ma- 
terial, with considerable inclination, so that the 
wet, when the floor is sluiced down, may at 



once pass off. Wood is seldom secure against 
rats, and does not so well suit the cleaning pro- 
cess of water and the lime-brush, and few places 
require their application more frequently. Do 
not crowd your birds, and always arrange for 
good ventilation. When the flock is large, 
separate the young ones, that they may thus 
have the advantage of better food, and that no 
risk may be incurred of finding the eggs of the 
older ones trodden under foot and broken at 
your morning visit. On this account the laying 
ducks should always have plenty of room, and 
be kept by themselves. Ducks for these rea- 
sons, as well as for the sake of cleanliness, 
should never share the habitation of fowls, and 
from geese they are liable to persecution. Yet 
where fowls are kept, a little contrivance will 
suffice to make their berth even in a fowl- 
house tolerably comfortable. In winter, a thin 
bedding of straw or rushes should be placed on 
the floor, and frequently changed. 

When circumstances permit, we recommend 
the arrangement adopted in our own case, 
where the house for the old ducks adjoins their 
pond, which is railed in. They are accustomed 
to be fed here, and readily present themselves 
at the proper time ; in the morning they get 
their food apart from both geese and fowls, 
neither plundered by the former, nor pilfering 
from the latter; and thus, too, their eggs are 
secured with far greater certainty, since the 
birds are not released from their inclosure till 
after the hour which usually witnesses the de- 
posit of their eggs. By the time the ducks ob- 
tain their liberty the geese have gone to their 
pasture. The duck generally lays at night, or 
early in the morning, and is usually disposed to 
lay away from her proper house ; but by our 
plan many eggs are secured which otherwise 
would have probably been lost. 

Where there is much extent of water and 
shrubbery within the range of ducks, they are 
liable to lay and sit abroad, unless they are con- 
stantly looked after, and driven home at night, 
and provided with proper shelter or pens. These 
may be made of rough boards, or of rustic work, 
thatched with straw. On an island, with small 
trees, it would make quite a picturesque appear- 
ance. 



282 



THE AMEEICAN POULTEEEE'S COMPANION. 



The internal arrangement of these houses 
may vary according to the means and taste of 
the proprietor, only providing the ducks with 
nests or nest-boxes, in order that they may lay 
and incubate undisturbed, and affording proper 
protection for the young. 

" It is a mistaken notion," says Ames, in the 
"Eural Cabinet," "to suppose that ducks must 
have a pond or run of water ; they will do very 
well where there is none. A small pan or 
shallow tub sunk in the ground and placed so 
as to receive the waste water from the pump or 
well, will afford every necessary arrangement." 
But from our experience we are satisfied that 
where there is no piece of water or stream, they 
will not do as well, nor do they appear as beau- 
tiful. It is not in all situations that ducks can 
be kept with advantage; they require water 
much more even than geese ; they are no gra- 
ziers, yet they are hearty feeders. Confine- 
ment will not do for them ; a paddock, a pas- 
ture, an orchard, a green lane, and a pond ; a 
farm-yard, with barns, and water; a common, 
smooth and level, with a sheet of water, and nice 
ditches, abounding in the season with tadpoles 
and the larvae of aquatic insects, are the local- 
ities in which the duck delights, and in such 
are they kept at little expense. It could not 
answer any where but in cold aquatic places. It 
would be fruitless to persevere in the desire of 
bringing up ducks in dry and barren places ; 
their flesh would neither be so tender nor so 
sweet. In this case, it is better to take, in 
preference to them, some other birds, to whom 
the localities are better suited, to come into 
the views which are in contemplation. 

Pairing and Laying. — One drake, according 
to M. Parmentier, is sufficient for eight or ten 
ducks, while Columella limits the number of 
ducks to six ; and others to four or five. Few 
of the common ducks begin to lay until the 
latter part of February, and then only when 
well fed ; but so far from producing the limited 
number of about sixteen eggs, some will lay as 
many as fifty, and nearly double that number. 
They do not usually continue to lay, however, 
later than May or June, unless they are particu- 
larly well fed — the great secret of rendering 
them prolific, provided they do not become too 



fat. A strong desire for the selection of her 
own nest, is generally found to influence the 
duck ; but this is mainly the case as the time 
draws on for incubation, since previously to 
that period, if the egg has not been laid before 
they have been let out of their house in the 
early morning, it is usually dropped at ran-. 
dom — wherever, in fact, the bird may chance 
to be when the time comes. In clear, shallow 
water, many eggs are constantly found, and in 
deeper pools, when cleaned out, the relics of 
such are often visible. 

At the laying season, therefore, ducks require 
to be closely watched and looked after, inas- 
much as they are not so easily brought to lay in 
the nests prepared for them as common fowls, 
but will stray away to hedges and other by- 
places to lay, and will even sometimes drop 
their eggs in the water. When they succeed in 
laying out their number of eggs without their 
nest being discovered, they will hatch them, and 
not make their appearance till they bring their 
young family home to the yard, except in raw, 
cold weather. 

If the nest selected by the duck be tolerably 
secure, it is better to allow her to continue there, 
for rarely will she sit well if removed from the 
spot of her own choice. But careless as we 
have seen her of the egg, no bird becomes more 
anxious for the nest and its contents when the 
more important duties of incubation are about 
to commence. The hollow of a wood-pile, or 
grassy hedge, or the shelter of some evergreen 
shrubs, are among the sites that appear most 
attractive. Here the ground is scraped out for 
an inch or so, and this, with a few leaves, is all 
that is thought necessary, till the duck finds 
that the time has come for its constant oc- 
cupation. It is then well lined with her own 
down, and a store of leaves and grass is pre- 
pared, with which the eggs on the occasion of 
the mother's absence are entirely covered and 
concealed. 

Thirteen eggs are a full allowance for a duck, 
and these should be as fresh as possible, for cer- 
tainly the eggs of ducks do not keep so well for 
hatching as those of fowls. Whenever, there- 
fore, we notice the preliminaries of a desire on 
the part of a duck to take to her nest, we allow 



AQUATIC FOWLS. 



283' 



her eggs to remain, and, if insufficient in num- 
ber, supply what is wanting by such as have been 
last layed by the others. During the early 
period of their incubation they are irregular in 
their time of feeding, for where the hen is ac- 
customed to make her daily appearance with 
little variation from the same hour, the duck is 
often clamorously demanding the supply of her 
wants at daylight, and manifests the rapidity of 
her digestion by another application in the after- 
noon. During the last few days, however, they 
are steadier, and frequently, on the eve of hatch- 
ing, are unwilling to quit their nests at all. At 
such times they should be well supplied with 
food and water close at hand. But so cautious 
in concealing her eggs, the duck becomes a sad 
tell-tale of their existence, both by her voice 
and appearance, when in search of food; the 
quack on such occasions becomes louder and 
more continuous, and the head is thrown back, 
the bill being kept open, and her whole plumage 
on end like that of a frizzled fowl. 

Cautions are often given as to the necessity 
of watching the duck, and seeing to her return 
to the nest in good season. Occasionally, 
doubtless, as we find with our hens, there will 
be a negligent discharge of this duty. But 
such instances are the exceptions, and not the 
rule, among our own birds ; and the warmth 
retained by ducks' eggs under the covering pro- 
vided by the mother while herself absent, is 
very great. After an hour's absence, indeed, 
in the case of one careless mother, such heat 
was found to be retained as at once freed us 
from all anxiety as to the ultimate result. 

" The duck," says Main, " is reproached with 
letting her eggs get cold when she sits. Yet 
Reaumur asserts he had a duck of the common 
species, which appeared still more uneasy about 
the cooling to which the eggs were going to be 
exposed while she was taking her food than 
hens appeared to be for theirs ; she only left the 
nest once a day, toward eight or nine in the 
morning; and before she left it, she covered 
them over with a layer of straw, which she drew 
from the body of the nest, to secure them from 
the impression of the air. This layer, above an 
inch thick, secured the eggs so well that it was 
quite impossible to guess that they were there." 



To be sure, every duck of the same species is 
far from giving the same proofs of so much 
foresight, for the preservation of the warmth of 
her eggs, as the one above alluded to. It often 
happens that they let them cool. Besides, 
hardly are the ducklings born when the mother 
takes them to the water, where they dabble and 
eat at first, and many of them perish if the 
weather is cold. 

The period of incubation varies to a remark- 
able degree. From twenty-eight to thirty days 
is generally thus occupied. We would give 
twenty-eight days as a mean for those that are 
placed under ducks, for under hens we have 
constantly had them out in twenty-six days; 
but such birds generally proved delicate. Early 
broods are generally the best, because the warmth 
of summer helps much to bring them about ; the 
cold always prevents the late broods from get- 
ting strong, and giving as large ducks. 

For the foregoing reasons, it is well to set 
hens on ducks' eggs ; being more assiduous than 
ducks, these foster-mothers have more affection 
for their young, will hatch and guard them with 
more attention ; and as they are unable to ac- 
company them on the water, for which ducks 
show the greatest propensity, as soon as they 
are excluded they follow the mother-hen on dry 
land, and get a little hardy before they are al- 
lowed to take the water without any guide. 

The duckling seldom requires assistance in 
emerging from the shell ; and. this is fortunate, 
since it is a process of far greater hazard to re- 
lieve them than to render the same aid to chick- 
ens. The blood-vessels appear more liable to 
be ruptured ; and we have few instances where 
such operations have eventually proved success- 
ful. 

If a duck has hatched the eggs, it is best to 
confine her for a few days under a coop, that 
the young birds may not be enticed into the 
pond, such early immersion being unquestion- 
ably dangerous. The duck, too, is far from 
following the example of the hen in abstaining 
at this season from her usual excursions ; fa- 
tigue, therefore, even supposing they escape the 
other perils of such rambles, is most prejudicial 
to the well-doing of the brood. 

The period of their confinement to the pen 



284 



THE AMEEICAN POULTEEEE'S COMPANION. 



depends on the weather and strength of the 
ducklings. Two weeks seems the longest time 
necessary ; and they may sometimes be per- 
mitted to enjoy the pond at the end of the 
week, but not for too great a length of time at 
once, least of all in cold weather, which will 
affect and cause them to scour and appear rough 
and draggled. In such case, they must be kept 
within a while, and have an allowance of strong 
food. The straw beneath the ducks should be 
often renewed, that the brood may have a dry 
and comfortable bed; and the mother should 
be plentifully fed with solid corn, without an 
ample allowance of which ducks are not to be 
reared or kept in perfection, although they 
gather so much abroad. 

A writer in the Southern Agriculturist, in 
speaking on the subject of rearing ducks, says, 
"These birds being aquatic in their habits, 
most persons suppose they ought to give the 
young ones a great deal of water. The conse- 
quence is, they soon take colds, become droopy, 
and die. This should be avoided. Ducks, 
when first hatched, are always inclined to fever, 
from their pinion wings coming out so soon. 
This acts upon them as teething does on chil- 
dren. The young ducks should, consequently, 
be kept from every thing which may have a 
tendency to create cold in them. To prevent 
this, therefore, I always give my young ducks 
as little water as possible. In fact they should 
only have enough to allay their thirst, and 
should on no account be permitted to play in 
the water. If the person lives near the city, 
liver and lights should be procured, and these 
should be boiled and chopped up fine, and given 
to the young ducks. Or, if fish, crabs, oysters, 
or clams can be procured, these should be given. 
In case none of these can be obtained, all the 
victuals should be boiled before feeding. Boiled 
potatoes mixed with hominy are also excellent. 
Half of the ducks which are lost is because raw 
food is given them. To sum up in a word, if 
you wish to raise almost every duck that is 
hatched, give them little water, and feed them 
on no food which is not boiled. By observing 
this plan I raise for market, and for my own 
table, between two and three hundred ducks 
every year." 



Ducks when young, are exposed to many 
dangers and mishaps. Their waddling gait 
quite unfits them for running from a foe on 
land, and they are but too apt to be trodden on 
by horses, cattle, and even by the foot of man. 
They should never be let out of their pens be- 
fore half past eight o'clock in the morning, as 
if by any chance a pen may have been let out 
earlier, the probability is that they soon suffer 
from cramp ; and it is a great gain for any 
young bird never to receive any check; and 
though the cramp may wear off, the bird never 
thrives so well afterward, if this malady has 
once attacked it. 

It is the general idea that the down about 
the tail in the young of both geese and ducks 
should be cut close, especially if the weather be 
whajt is termed " draggling*' i. e., wet or drizzly. 
Nature certainly does not provide a pair of 
scissors for this purpose ; and among our own 
broods, where some have undergone this opera- 
tion, while others have been left unshorn for 
the sake of testing the effect, we have hitherto 
been unable to ascertain any difference in their 
subsequent progress. 

Enemies of the Duck. — Care must be taken 
that the water where the ducks are at liberty to 
go contain no leeches, which occasion the loss 
of the ducklings by sticking to their feet. We 
have also suffered some loss from the mud-tur- 
tle, which infests some streams. We were once 
passing near a small stream, and hearing the 
cries of a gosling, we hurried to the bank, and 
found its feet apparently entangled; on grasp- 
ing it, we found something hanging to the foot, 
and on raising it from the water, behold a snap- 
ping-turtle had fastened to one of the legs, to 
which he adhered with the tenacity of a bull- 
dog. We cast him on the bank; he weighed 
ten pounds, and furnished us a repast which 
would make an alderman's mouth water. But 
the most dreaded enemy is the fox, to whose 
stealthy incursions the ducks are most liable, 
because they most commonly stray from home, 
and it can not be hunted too much to get the 
country rid of it. The ducks should, therefore, 
be driven to the water in the morning and 
brought back inthe evening. 

Skunks, weasels, and minks will also destroy 



AQUATIC FOWLS. 



ducks ; we once had a very fine duck killed by 
a mink, which found its way from a neighbor- 
ing stream to our poultry-yard. It was killed 
by a wound in the throat, no other part having 
been touched. Cats will sometimes catch young 
ducks as well as young chickens. Of all dread- 
ed animals the rat is the most formidable. "We 
have suffered more from their depredations than 
all the other animals put together, and they are 
the most difficult to be got rid of. To avoid 
them, the ducks, as well as young chickens, 
should not be cooped too near any buildings. 
The rat will also attack chickens even when 
feathered. We were once standing near a 
small patch of beans in the garden, when we 
noticed considerable fluttering and noise among 
a brood of chickens in search of worms and in- 
sects, when all at once one of the chickens 
emerged from among the patch of beans near 
to where we stood, followed by a large rat, in 
eager pursuit, which, on observing us, he aban- 
doned. The best way to master that sort of 
animal is to keep one or two good terrier dogs. 
To show that even in their congenial ele- 
ment, when skimming the surface of the water, 
under the watchful care of their mother, they 
are not free from danger, the following story is 
told by Waterton : " In 1815," says he, " I fully 
satisfied myself of the inordinate partiality of 
the carrion-crow for the young aquatic poultry. 
The duck had in her possession a brood of ten 
ducklings, which had been hatched about a fort- 
night. Unobserved by any body, I put the old 
duck and her young ones into a pond, nearly 
three hundred yards from a high fir-tree, in 
which a carrion-crow had built her nest ; it con- 
tained five young ones, almost fledged. I took 
my station on the bridge, about one hundred 
yards from the tree. Nine times the parent 
crow flew to the pond, and brought back a 
duckling each time to its young. When a 
young brood is attacked by an enemy, the old 
duck has nothing to defend it. I saved a tenth 
victim by timely interference. In lieu of put- 
ting herself between it and danger, as the fowl 
would do, 6he opens her mouth and shoots 
obliquely through the water, heating it with her 
wings. During these useless movements the 
invader seizes its prey with impunity.'' 



A duck seldom troubles herself much about 
the abstraction of her young, and the latter are 
equally content to forego maternal superintend- 
ence. Many hazards, too, are thus avoided ; 
and the supervision of the attendant, both as 
regards food and management, is performed in 
one quarter of the time it would occupy in look- 
ing after the different straggling families. 

"The courage of the hen is eminently shown 
in her determined resistance to any foe that may 
attack the nest or her young ; the duck, on the 
other hand, though she vigorously repels an 
intruder while sitting, takes little trouble to pro- 
tect her ducklings. Mr. Roscoe mentioned to us 
an instance of this indifference to the safety of 
her brood in a duck that had hatched close to 
his lodge in Knowlsley Park. Several of the 
ducklings had disappeared without the depre- 
dators being discovered, when he determined to 
watch and ascertain their fate. As evening 
drew on, a large rat was seen approaching ; and 
with a view of seeing what defense might be 
made by the old bird, it was allowed to come 
close up to her. A duckling was then taken by 
it from beneath the mother, without her even 
moving or showing any sign of anxiety. Wish- 
ing to observe whether she would be more on 
her guard or equally passive on a second occa- 
sion, the rat was allowed to retire unmolested ; 
and after a few minutes the same, or another 
animal of the same kind, again approached as 
before, evidently intent upon obtaining an ad- 
ditional victim. Still the duck remained with- 
out any expression of alarm ; but his object 
being now gained, Mr. Roscoe's gun soon num- 
bered the aggressor among the slain." 

COMPARATIVE COST AND PRODUCE OF DUCKS. 

Any calculation as to the return to be ex- 
pected by those who keep ducks, turns entirely 
on the possession of a suitable locality. They 
are most likely to be kept with profit when ac- 
cess is allowed them to an adjoining marsh or 
water-meadows, where they arc able in a great 
measure to provide for themselves ; for if wholly 
dependent on the breeder for their living, they 
have such ravenous, insatiable appetites, that 
tlicy would soon, to use an emphatic phrase, 
"cat their heads off." No description of poul- 



286 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



try, in fact, will devour so much or feed so 
grossly. But certain moderate limits are req- 
uisite for their excursion, for otherwise they 
will gradually learn to absent themselves alto- 
gether, and acquire semi-wild habits ; so that, 
when required to be put up for feeding or im- 
mediate sale, they are then found wanting. 
Ducklings too early allowed their liberty on 
large pieces of water, are exposed to so many 
enemies, both by land and water, that few reach 
maturity, and even if some are thus fortunate, 
they are ever after indisposed to return to their 
discipline and regular habits of the farm-yard. 
The best situation, therefore, is in a medium 
between such uncontrolled liberty and the close 
confinement of a yard. They may be kept in 
health, indeed, within small inclosures, by a 
a good system of management, though we fear 
not with profit, which is the point to which all 
our advice must tend. 

FATTENING. 

According to Gervase Markham, pulse or any 
kind of grain will fatten ducks in a fortnight. 
We are not of that opinion ; and we think if he 
had tried it, he would have found that his recipe 
was not always successful. 

Ducks are fattened, either in confinement, 
with plenty of food and water, or full as well re- 
stricted to a pond, with access to as much solid 
food as they will eat. They fatten speedily by 
mixing their hard meat, as an Englishman 
would say, with such variety abroad as is nat- 
ural to them, more particularly if in good con- 
dition, and there is no check or impediment to 
thrift, from pining, for every mouthful tells and 
weighs. A dish of mixed food, if preferred to 
whole grain, may remain on the bank, or, rather 
in a shed, for the ducks. " I must here men- 
tion a fact," says Mowbray, " which I have ei- 
ther actually verified, or suppose that I have ver- 
ified. Barley, in any form, should never be used 
in fattening aquatics, ducks or geese, since it 
renders their flesh loose, woolly, and insipid, 
and deprives it of that high, savory flavor of 
brown meat which is its valuable distinction ; in 
a word, rendering it ckickeny, not unlike in flavor 
the flesh of ordinary and yellow-legged fowls." 
Oats and corn are the standard material for 



ducks and geese, to which may be added boiled 
potatoes and Indian meal, or ship stuffs, mixed 
as it may be required. Liver boiled and chop- 
ped fine is a good condiment, and well relished 
by ducks. In England they are fattened on 
ground malt, mixed up with water and milk. 

When ducks are confined to fatten, or other- 
wise, it is well to give them sand, or brick 
pounded fine and mixed with their food, and 
occasionally earth-worms. If their droppings 
are too loose and watery, mix a little forge-water 
with their food ; this will also cure the relax in 
any other sort of fowls. 

A deceased friend of the author, who was 
very curious in these matters, and besides a 
lover of the good things of this world, used to 
feed his ducks, ten or twelve days previous to 
killing them, with celery chopped fine, to give 
them a flavor, which he assured us rendered 
their flesh but litile inferior to the famous Can- 
vas-back ducks. 

That the food on which fowls are fed has a 
tendency to impart a flavor to their flesh, and 
even to the eggs, is obvious from a fact related 
to us, not long since, by a friend. He said some 
onions, partly decayed, were thrown into a yard 
where he had some fowls confined, of which 
they ate considerable. A few days after, he was 
surprised to find his eggs tasted so strongly of 
onions that they could not be eaten. It is also 
well known that when fowls are fed on fish, their 
flesh has always a fishy taste. 

Ducks are so very greedy that they often de- 
vour a whole fish or a frog, which hurts them 
very much, if they do not immediately throw it 
up. They are particularly fond of meat, which 
they eat with avidity, even when tainted ; slugs, 
spiders, toads, insects, all suit their ravenous ap- 
petite. They therefore are, of all the birds in 
the poultry-yard, those that do the greatest serv- 
ice in a garden, by destroying insects which do 
so much damage, did not their own voracious- 
ness cause other inconveniences, which more 
than balance this advantage. 

Cobbett advises feeding them on "grass, corn, 
cabbages, and lettuces, and especially buck- 
wheat, cut when half ripe, and flung down in 
the haulm. This makes fine ducks. Ducks 
will feed on garbage and all sorts of filthy things, 



AQUATIC FOWLS. 



287 



but their flesh is strong and bad in proportion. 
They are, on Long Island, fattened upon a 
coarse sort of crab, called a horse-foot, cast on 
the shores. When young, they should be fed 
upon barley-meal, or curds, and kept in a warm 
and dry place in the night-time, and not let out 
early in the morning. It always does them 
harm; and if intended to be sold or killed 
young, they should never go near ponds, ditches, 
or streams. When you come to fat ducks, you 
must take care that they get no filth whatever. 
They will eat garbage of all sorts ; they will suck 
down the most nauseous particles of all those 
substances which go for manure. A dead rat, 
three parts rotten, is a feast to them. For these 
reasons we should never eat any ducks unless 
there were some mode of keeping them from 
this horrible food. We treat them precisely as 
we do our geese. We buy a troop when they 
are young, and put them in a pen, and feed 
them upon oats, cabbages, lettuces, and have the 
place kept very clean. Our ducks are, in con- 



sequence of this, a great deal more fine and del- 
icate than any others that we know any thing of." 

They live chiefly on grain scattered about the 
premises, the siftings and sweepings of barns, all 
sorts of mealy substances, the residue of brew- 
eries and boiling-houses, roots, fruits, every 
thing, indeed, suits them, provided it be rather 
moist : in fact, nothing seems to come amiss to 
them. 

Their weight, size, and flavor depend much 
upon the manner in which they have been fed 
and fattened. The size of the duck varies much. 
There are some which, in the course of eight or 
nine weeks, reckoning from their birth, weigh 
as much as seven or eight pounds, while others, 
of the same age and species, do not come to 
half this weight. As this bird values its liberty 
very much, it is no less strange than true, that 
it fattens more readily and rapidly not only in 
confinement, but even when cooped up; repose 
and good living appearing to hasten even alder- 
manic obesity. 




288 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

WILD BIRDS SUSCEPTIBLE OF DOMESTICATION. 



There can not be a doubt but that all the 
domestic fowls we now possess have been re- 
claimed from a wild state. We are certain the 
turkey and the Musk duck have been recently 
reclaimed ; and we see no reason why many 
more may not be domesticated as well, if any 
pains were taken to do it. But those who have 
tried the experiment say that it requires three 
or four generations to bring them down to a 
thoroughly domesticated state. There are quite 
a number of beautiful wild fowl that, if domes- 
ticated, would not only make useful additions 
to the flocks of our poultry-yards, but add great- 
ly to the beauty of those flocks. We are aware 
that many attempts have been made to domes- 
ticate that elegant and most beautiful of the 
duck tribe, known as the Wood or Summer 
duck, but have not heard of any systematic 
efforts being made to perpetuate them in a do- 
mestic state. It would require great care, at- 
tention, and perseverance ; still, we think, it 
may be accomplished. 

The following remarks upon the wild stocks 
was furnished by a gentleman of Boston, well 
known as an ornithologist and a natural histo- 
rian, who was solicited by the Committee of 
Supervision of the Exhibition of Poultry held 
in the city of Boston in 1849 to furnish them 
with his views on the classification of domestic 
poultry, and the kinds which might, with ad- 
vantage, be introduced into our poultry -yards : 
"The order," says the writer, "from which 
the most valuable poultry is derived is that 
known to naturalists as GallinEe, or Gallina- 
ceous birds. The genus of these first in order 
is that known as Penelope, or Guan, of which 
there is not much to be said as regards their 



fitness for the poultry-yard as I know of but 
one instance in which one has been brought to 
this country. I brought a female specimen of 
Crested Guan with me on my return from Yu- 
catan, which did not live a year after its arrival. 
This bird is of the size of a small turkey, weigh- 
ing, when full grown, seven or eight pounds ; 
the meat is very good. They live principally 
on the leaves of trees and such like food, greed- 
ily eating grass, clover, etc. ; in short, almost 
any green herbage, and also fruits of various 
kinds. They are not difficult to domesticate in 
their native countries ; but, I think, could hard- 
ly be made to survive our cold winters. 

" The next genus would be that of Crax, or 
Curassow, known as the Mexican Pheasant. 
There are a number of species of this genus, of 
which several are frequently domesticated in 
their native country. I brought with me three 
different species to this country, viz., one Crax 
Rubra, one Crax Alector, and one Crax Globi- 
cera. The Crax Alector was killed by a dog 
a few days after we arrived ; the other two 
lived until winter, when, in order to save my- 
self the trouble of keeping, I lent them to a 
traveling menagerie, and they soon died, owing 
probably to neglect. These birds are larger and 
more hardy than those of the previously men- 
tioned genus. Their meat is very good, and 
they feed on much the same food as the Guans. 
They might, perhaps, with care, be kept in this 
country ; but of this I do not feel very sanguine. 

"The next genus which affords any thing 
likely to be of value in the poultry-yard is that 
of Pavo, or Peacock. There are three known 
species belonging to this genus, of which the 
Pavo Cristatus is the one generally known. 



WILD BIRDS SUSCEPTIBLE OF DOMESTICATION. 



289 



This bird used to be highly valued for the ta- 
ble, and I see no reason why it should' not 
again. 

"Next comes the genus Phasianus, or Pheas- 
ants. These birds are more valuable in a wild 
state, in parks and preserves, on account of 
their beauty, and the sport afforded in shooting 
them. 

" Next to this comes the most valuable genus 
to the poulterer of any yet mentioned, that of 
Gallus, or Cock. Our present domestic varie- 
ties are derived principally from the G. Ban- 
kiva, but some of the larger varieties, probably, 
come from G. Giganteus, and G. -ZEnus, and 
perhaps from some of the other large species. 
The native country of this genus is India and 
its islands. In the same country is also found 
another genus, some species of which are fre- 
quently domesticated by the natives. It is that 
of Gallophasis — Cock-pheasants, which could un- 
doubtedly be introduced here. The most com- 
mon species are G. Ignitus, or Eire-backed 
pheasant, and G. Erythrophthalmus, or Red-eyed 
Pheasant. 

"Besides this, in the same country is found 
the genus Ceriornis, or Trogophans, which also 
would bear our climate perfectly well. 

"The next genus in value, as well as order, 
is that of Meleagris, or Turkey. There are but 
two species, however, belonging to this genus, 
one of which is found in the north, and the oth- 
er in Central America. M. Gallopavo is the 
common North American species, which has 
been spread all over the world. The other spe- 
cies, M. Ocillata (Honduras Turkey), was al- 
most unknown until within a few years. It is 
much more beautiful than the common turkey, 
and also much more delicate and difficult to 
rear; so that I doubt whether they can be suc- 
cessfully domesticated in this country, though 
they are not uncommon in a domestic state in 
Yucatan. 

" AXSERES. 

" The next order from which is derived an 
important part of our poultry, is that of An- 
seres. 

"The first genus is that of Cygnus, or Swan. 
It comprises nine species, of which four are 



European, two are North American, two are 
South American, and one New Holland. All 
of these might be domesticated with us. The 
species now domesticated is C. Orlor. 

"The second genus is that of Anser, or 
Goose. There are eight known species be- 
longing to this genus, of which two, the Snow 
and the White-fronted goose, are common to 
Europe and America, and five are common to 
Europe and Asia. The Anser Eerus, or com- 
mon wild goose of Europe, is the stock from 
which descend nearly all our common domestic 
varieties. All the species of this genus might 
be introduced into our poultry-yards. 

"The third genus of this order is that of the 
Bernicla, or Barnicle Goose. The most im- 
portant species of this genus is Bernicla Cana- 
densis, or our common Wild or Canada goose. 
Nearly all the species of this genus might be 
domesticated. Our common Brant (B. Brenta) 
is frequently found in a domestic state along 
the sea-coast of Massachusetts. 

" The fourth genus likely to afford poultry is 
that of Aix. There are but two species belong- 
ing to this genus, viz., A. Sponsa, our common 
Summer or Wood duck, and A. Galericulata, 
the Mandarin duck of China, both of which are 
occasionally domesticated, and are chiefly val- 
uable as ornaments to pleasure-grounds, on ac- 
count of their brilliant plumage. 

"The fifth genus, that of Mareca, or Wid- 
geons, has been almost totally neglected by our 
poulterers and bird-fanciers, although having 
very beautiful plumage and excellent flesh ; al- 
most all the species would bear domestication 
perfectly well. 

"The sixth genus, that of Defila, or Pin- 
tailed ducks, affords two or three large and very 
beautiful ducks. Defila Acuta, our common 
gray duck, is occasionally domesticated. 

" The seventh and most important genus of 
this order is that of Anas or ducks proper. 
The common tame duck is derived from A. 
Boschas, or Mallard, a species common to Eu- 
rope and North America, which is occasionally 
crossed with A. Moschata, the Muscovy duck. 
This last belongs more properly to a different 
genus — that of Cairina — and is of considerable 
value in the poultry-yard." 



290 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 




TIIE CHESTED CUKASSOVV. 



We will now give a history and description, 
with illustrations, of several species and varie- 
ties, some of which have been partially re- 
claimed, and are susceptible of domestication. 

THE CURASSOW. 

The Curassow, known here as the Mexican 
Pheasant, are all natives of Mexico, South 
America, etc., and many approach the common 
turkey in size. The Crested Curassow, which 
our figure illustrates, is a native of the forests 
of Mexico, Guiana, and Brazil ; in Guiana par- 
ticularly it is so abundant that Sonnoni regards 
it as an unfailing source of supply to the trav- 
eler who has to trust to his gun. These birds con- 
gregate together in large troops, and are so un- 
suspicious that they will remain quietly perched 
on the branches of trees while the gun makes 
havoc among their numbers. In districts, how- 
ever, which are well frequented, they are more 
shy and mistrustful, ever keeping on the alert 
to avoid pursuit of the sportsman. They build 
large nests in the trees, constructing them with 



sticks and long herbage, and lining them with 
grasses and leaves. The eggs are from five to 
eight in number, and resemble those of a fowl, 
but have a thicker shell, and are of a larger size. 
Their flesh, in delicacy and whiteness, surpasses 
that of the fowl or pheasant. 

This species has been bred in Holland, and 
is common in a domestic state in the Dutch set- 
tlements of Berbice, Essequibo, Demerara, and 
elsewhere, and requires but little care. In avi- 
aries, we are informed, it suffers, as do the rest 
of the group, from wet or dampness, which oc- 
casions mortification and consequent loss of the 
toes. Plenty of room, a dry soil, and trees on 
which to perch, and a sheltered situation, are 
essentials in all endeavors to naturalize this 
valuable bird. The Crested Curassow is as 
large as a moderate-sized turkey. The tail is 
ample, and composed of stiff feathers. With 
the exception of the abdominal region, which is 
white, the whole plumage is rich black with a 
gloss of green. The cere and skin round the 
eyes are light yellow. The crest consists of 



WILD BIRDS SUSCEPTIBLE OF DOMESTICATION. 



291 




THE GALEATED CUKASSOW. 



feathers about three inches long, curled forward, 
of a velvety appearance, and capable of being 
raised or depressed at will. In several species, 
as in the Galeated Curassow, the Guan, the 
Kazor-billed Curassow, and others, the wind- 
pipe makes one, two, or even three deep folds 
between the skin and muscles of the breast be- 
fore passing into the cavity of the chest. Ber- 
ries and various sorts of grain constitute the 
food of these birds, and they are remarkable 
for tameness, becoming easily domesticated. 

"In many parts of South America," says Mr. 
Bennett, "these birds have long been reclaimed; 
and it is really surprising, considering their ex- 
treme familiarity of manners, and the facility 
with which they appear to pass from a state of 
nature to the tameness of domestic fowls, that 
they have not been introduced into the poultry- 
yards of Europe. That with proper treatment 
they would speedily become habituated to the 
climate, we have no reason to doubt; on the 
contrary, numerous examples have shown that 
they thrive well even in its northern parts, and 



M. Temminck informs us that they have been, 
once at least, thoroughly acclimated in Holland, 
where they were as prolific in the domestic state 
as any of our common poultry. The establish- 
ment, however, in which this had been effected 
was broken up by the civil commotions which 
followed in the train of the French Revolution, 
and the results of much labor lost by its com- 
plete dispersion." 

THE GALEATED CCRASSOW. 

The variety known as the Galeated Curassow 
frequents, in flocks, the forests of Mexico, and 
perches on trees, but, as is stated, makes its nest 
on the ground ; and the young are led by the 
female parent in the same manner as a hen 
leads her brood. The young are at first fed with 
worms, larva;, and insects, and afterward pick 
up grain, fruits, berries, etc. Like the Crested 
Curassow, this species is easily domesticated, 
and is one of those which bred in Holland in 
the menagerie of M. Ameshoff. Its size is that 
of a small turkey. Head and neek covered with 



292 



THE AMERICAN POULTEEEKS COMPANION. 




TEE CAPEKCAILLIE, OE COCK OF THE WOOD. 



short velvety feathers of a deep black; all the 
rest of the plumage, with the exception of the 
feathers of the abdomen, which are white, are 
black with a gloss of green ; tail tipped with 
white ; legs red ; bill bright red. 

All the hoccos or Curassow (crax), which are 
derived from their native forests of Guiana, read- 
ily unite with one another, giving rise to a prog- 
eny that is reproductive without end. "It is 
probable," observes a judicious ornithologist, 
" that if the intercourse were repeated in a va- 
riety of ways, it would be possible to cultivate, 
by suitable care, many different races of these 
birds, whose descendants might be susceptible 
of multiplying, ad infinitum, and branching out 
into a number of singular varieties, under the 
superintendence of man. 

" In fact, the Dutch menageries have already 
obtained the prolific hybrids of these species 
(crax alector, c. rubra, and c. globicera) ; and it 
has been observed that these mixed birds have 
their plumage more varied and far more agree- 
able to the eye than the uniform livery of the 
adult individuals of the pure race." 

Here, then, we have a family of wild birds, 
recently reclaimed from their native forests, so 



as to leave us no possible question of their origin 
and specific diversity; and by intermixing these 
species in a state of domestication, we have pass- 
ing under our eyes, as it were, the identical se- 
ries of phenomena — those very same changes 
which are so remarkable and familiar in the 
common fowl. 

THE CAPEECAILLIE, OR COCK OF THE WOOD. 

This bird is common in most parts of North- 
ern Europe, and was once to be found in Scot- 
land and Ireland. The male is a large bird, 
almost equaling a turkey in size, but the female 
is considerably smaller. In the early spring, 
before the snow has left the ground, this singu- 
lar bird commences his celebrated "play." This 
play is confined to the males, and usually takes 
place in the early dawn of day to sunrise, or 
from a little after sunset until it is quite dark, 
and intended to give notice of their presence 
to the females who are in the neighborhood. 
"During the play," says Lloyd, "his neck is 
stretched out, his tail is raised and spread like 
a fan, his wings droop, his feathers are ruffled 
up, and, in short, he much resembles in appear- 
ance an angry turkey-cock. He begins his play 



WILD BIRDS SUSCEPTIBLE OF DOMESTICATION. 



29; 



with a call something resembling Peller, pelkr, 
pellerJ these sounds he repeats at some little 
intervals, but as lie proceeds they increase in 
rapidity, until at last, and after perhaps the lapse 
of a minute or so, he makes a sort of gulp in 
his throat, and finishes with sucking in, as it 
were, his breath. 

" The play of the capercaillie is not loud, and 
should there be wind stirring in the trees at the 
time, it can not be heard at any considerable 
distance. Indeed, during the calmest and most 
favorable weather, it is not audible at more than 
two to three hundred paces. 

"On hearing the call of the cock, the hens, 
whose cry in some degree resembles the croak 
of the raven, or rather, perhaps, the sounds 
Gock, gock, gock! assemble from all parts of the 
surrounding forests. The male bird now de- 
scends from the eminence on which he was 
perched to the ground, where he and his female 
friends join in company. The capercaillie dees 
not play indiscriminately over the forest, but he 
has his certain stations for his playing-grounds. 
These, however, are often of some little extent. 
Here, unless very much persecuted, the song of 
these birds may be heard in the spring for years 
together. The capercaillie does not, during his 
play, confine himself to any particular tree, as 
Mr. Nilsson asserts to be the case, for, on the 
contrary, it is seldom he is to be met with ex- 
actly on the same spot for two days in succes- 
sion." 

The female makes her nest upon the ground, 
and lays from six to twelve eggs ; her brood 
keep with her till the approach of winter, but 
the cocks separate from the mother before the 
hens. The food of this bird consists of the leaves 
of the Scotch fir, of juniper-berries, cranberries, 
blueberries, and occasionally in winter of the 
birch. The young are sustained at first on in- 
sects, and especially the larva? of ants. In the 
male the wind-pipe makes a loose fold, or two 
curves, before it enters the chest, gaining by 
this contrivance great increase of length. 

The general color of the males on the upper 
part is chestnut-brown, irregularly marked with 
blackish lines ; the breast glossy, greenish black, 
passing into black on the upper surface ; elon- 
gated feathers of the throat black ; tail black. 



In the female the head, the neck, and back are 
marked with transverse bars of red and black ; 
the under surface is pale orange-yellow, barred 
with black. Nilsson assures us that the caper- 
caillie is often reared up in a domestic state in 
Sweden, and is bold and disposed to attack 
persons, like the turkey-cock ; and both this 
naturalist and Mr. Lloyd affirm that these birds 
will breed with due care in confinement; in 
fact, they give several instances by way of 
proof. Beckstein states that the cock of the 
wood will breed with the black grouse, and 
even with the domestic fowl and turkey. 

In the early part of spring the markets of 
London are supplied with these birds in abund- 
ance from Norway, and owing to the rapidity of 
steam navigation, the birds are almost as fresh 
as if just shot, opening well for many days. 
The flesh of the females is excellent. 

THE GROUSE. 

With regard to the true grouse, it is of the 
moorland and heath, the wild plain and the 
mountain, the barren rock and the dense pine 
forests, that they are the respective tenants. 
Some naturalists class them all, together with 
the partridges and quails, in one genus terra; 
others, however, have subdivided this genus into 
many, but often on very superficial grounds. 

The grouse, celebrated for the exquisite fla- 
vor of its flesh, inhabits an extensive range of 
this country ; open dry plains, interspersed with 
trees partially overgrown with shrub-oak, being 
its favorite haunts. They were formerly found 
on the bushy plains of Long Island ; on the 
grouse plains of New Jersey ; over the whole 
extent of the barrens of Kentucky ; on the rich 
prairies of Indiana and Illinois. They are com- 
mon at Moose Fort, on Hudson's Bay ; and were 
found by Lewis and Clarke in crossing the Rocky 
Mountains, and on the vast and remote plains 
of the Columbia River. 

THE RUFFED GROUSE. 

This well-known American bird is called 
partridge in New York and the New England 
States, pheasant in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, 
and the Southern States, although neither the 
partridge nor pheasant is found in America. 



294 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 




THE ECFFED GROUSE. 



The ruffed grouse is known in almost every 
quarter of the United States, and appears to in- 
habit a very extensive range of country. Its 
favorite places of resort are high mountains, cov- 
ered with balsam, spruce, hemlock, and such 
like evergreens. It always prefers the woods ; 
is seldom or never found in open plains ; but 
loves the pine-sheltered districts of mountains 
near streams of water. In the lower parts of 
Georgia, Carolina, and Florida, they are very 
seldom observed ; but as we advance inland to 
the mountains they again make their appear- 
ance. 

The manners of the ruffed grouse are soli- 
tary ; they are seldom found in coveys of more 
than four and five together, and more usually 
in pairs or singly. They leave the woods early 
in the morning, and seek the path or road to 
pick up gravel and glean among the droppings 
of the horses. They also bathe and bask in the 
fine, dry sand. If the weather be lowering or 
foggy, they are sure of being found in such sit- 
uations. They generally move along with great 
stateliness, their broad, fan-like tail spread out. 



The drumming, as it is generally called, of the 
partridge, is another singularity of this species. 
This is performed by the male alone. It is a 
kind of thump, like that produced by two blown- 
up ox bladders being struck together ; the strokes 
at first are low and distinct, but gradually in- 
crease in rapidity until they run into each oth- 
er. They may be heard in a still day half a 
mile off, and are produced in the following man- 
ner: The bird, standing on an old prostrate 
log, lowers his wings, erects his tail, contracts 
his throat, elevates the two winglets or tufts 
of feathers on his neck, and inflates his whole 
body somewhat in the manner of the turkey- 
cock, strutting and wheeling about with great 
stateliness. After a few manoeuvres of this kind, 
he begins to strike with his stiffened wings in 
short and quick strokes, which become more 
and more rapid, as has been described. This 
is most common in the morning and evening; 
and by this means the gunner is led to the place, 
of his retreat. 

On being disturbed the bird springs a few 
yards, with a loud whirring sound, and flies 



WILD BIRDS SUSCEPTIBLE OF DOMESTICATION. 



29' 



with great vigor through the woods, beyond 
reach of view before it alights. They are ex- 
ceedingly fond of the seeds of grapes, and eat 
chestnuts, blackberries, and ants. In the fall 
they feed on various kinds of berries, and on 
the buds of the birch and apple-tree ; the lat- 
ter often imparting a bitter, disagreeable flavor 
to their flesh. 

The ruffed grouse is eighteen inches long, 
and in best condition in the months of October 
and November, when they feed on whortle 
and partridge berries, the last of which give 
to their flesh a peculiar and delicate flavor. 
The general plumage is variegated with trans- 
verse markings of black, reddish-brown, and 
white. The upper parts of the body are of a 
bright rust color, marked with spots of white. 
The under parts are white, and the tail beautiful- 
ly marked with black. There are tufts, or wing- 
lets, on each side of the neck, which it occa- 
sionally raises, composed of feathers, velvet- 
black, with green reflections. 

The female is paler tinted than the male; 
the shoulder tufts are smaller, and of an orange- 
brown. The hen breeds in May, artfully con- 
cealing her nest, which is placed on the ground 
under brushwood, on a tussock of long grass, 
and formed with little art; the eggs are from 
ten to fifteen in number, and of a brownish- 
white. She carefully attends her brood, and, 
like the partridge of Europe, put various ma- 
noeuvres in practice, such as fluttering on the 
ground, as if a wing or a leg were broken, in or- 
der to decoy intruders from the place of their 
concealment. 

THE PRAIRIE HEN. 

This species is known under the various 
names of grouse, pinnated grouse, heath hen, 
and prairie hen, in different sections of this 
country. In the State of New York they are 
now almost exterminated. The specimen fig- 
ured was one which was killed on Long Isl- 
and in 1SI0, and was probably the last of its 
race in that district. It is still found in a 
few of the Atlantic States, in a few of the 
islands off the coast of Massachusetts, and the 
mountainous regions of Pennsylvania. They 
are also said to have been recently seen at 



Schooley's Mountain, in New Jersey, and a few 
are also said to linger about Orange County, 
New York. They are so readily killed that they 
soon disappear as the country becomes settled. 

These birds are now found in great numbers 
on the luxuriant plains and prairies of Illinois, 
Indiana, and the vast and remote plains of the 
Columbia River ; open, dry plains, interspersed 
with trees, or partially overgrown with shrub- 
oak, and prairie being their favorite haunts. In 
these localities they find food and shelter. In 
severe weather these birds approach barns and 
farm-houses, mix with the poultry to glean up 
the scattered grains of Indian corn, and seem 
almost domesticated. Many are at this time 
taken in traps, and the gun thins their numbers. 
Since the introduction of railroads, vast num- 
bers of these delicious birds find their way to 
New York and other eastern cities, and are high- 
ly appreciated by those who are fond of game. 

The male of the prairie hen weighs about 
three pounds and a half. The neck is furnish- 
ed with a sort of winglet, composed of eighteen 
feathers, of which five are black, and the rest, 
which are shorter, black streaked with brown. 
The head is slightly crested, and over each eye 
is a semicircular comb of rich orange. Dur- 
ing the pairing season, while uttering strange 
sounds, each strongly accented, the cock ex- 
hibits all the ostentatious gesticulations of a 
turkey-cock, erecting and fluttering his neck- 
wings, or pointed frills, and passing and strut- 
ting before his fellows as if in defiance. Now 
and then are heard some cackling notes, chief- 
ly uttered by the males while engaged in battle, 
on which occasion they leap up against each 
other exactly in the same manner as turkeys, 
but seemingly with more malice than effect. 
The males begin their call before daybreak, and 
continue until eight or nine in the morning, 
when the parties separate to seek for food. 

The hen of this species builds her nest on the 
ground, under brushwood, or a tussock of long 
grass, depositing from ten to fifteen eggs, of a 
dull, brownish color, upon which she sits eight- 
een or nineteen days. The young form coveys, 
or packs, which separate on the approach of 
spring. 

Jjesci-ijdion. — Body robust ; head, with its 



296 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 







TUE PIIEASANT. 



feathers, somewhat elongated, and forming at 
pleasure a slight erectile crest ; a warty space 
over the eyes ; tail short, rounded, and of a 
dusky color; head, with the bare space over 
the eyes, bright scarlet, and the bare space 
on the neck orange; throat and sides of the 
head cream-color; a dark, longitudinal stripe 
under the eye. The general plumage is varie- 
gated with transverse markings of black, red- 
dish-brown, and white ; breast and under parts 
brown, transversely marked with white ; throat 
marked with touches of brown. 

The female is considerably less than the 
male, of a lighter color, destitute of the neck- 
wings, of the naked sacculated appendages, and 
the semicircular comb over the eye. It feeds 
on green lichens, buds, clover leaves, and vari- 
ous kinds of berries ; buds of the pine, grain, 
and insects, constitute the food of the prairie 
fowl. 

The prairie hen is said to be easily tamed, 
and with a little care might soon be domesti- 
cated. Coops of these birds have occasionally 
been exhibited at several of our agricultural 
and poultry shows, but as yet we have no knowl- 
edge of any having been domesticated, although 
a number of attempts have been made. The 



cause, however, may probably have been more 
from ignorance of their habits, than inattention 
to their wants. They sell at from 75 cents to 
$1 per pair in our markets in the winter. 

THE PHEASANT. 

The so-called English pheasant was original- 
ly brought from the banks of the Phasis, a riv- 
er in Calchis, Asia Minor, and has complete- 
ly naturalized itself in England. It is a hardy 
bird, and bears the cold months very well. Al- 
though it can be tamed, and will come to be 
fed with the poultry, yet an innate timidity 
seems to prevent it from being thoroughly do- 
mesticated. Young pheasants that have been 
hatched under a lien, scamper off in terror if 
an unexpected intruder makes his appearance 
among them, although the remainder of the 
poultry remain perfectly unconcerned. 

It is supposed, and believed by some, that 
the English ring-necked pheasant is a hybrid 
between the pheasaia?ms colchecus and p. torqua- 
tor of China. This cross is very prolific, and 
is said to be spreading faster than the ordinary 
breed. 

Of the time of the introduction of the pheas- 
ant into England we have no posit'* - e evidence. 



WILD BIRDS SUSCEPTIBLE OF DOMESTICATION. 



297 



As early as 1299 it is mentioned as worth four- 
pence, and two hundred of them made part of 
the great feast of the Archbishop of Neville, 
about the middle of the fifteenth century. 

Of the habits of these birds in a state of na- 
ture we know little, and yet have no reason to 
doubt their similarity to those exhibited in their 
present half domesticated state in Europe and 
this country. 

They are now found in preserves, woods with 
a thick undergrowth of brush, brambles, long 
grass, etc., interspersed with open glades, which 
some little stream refreshes and the sun enliv- 
ens, and which are their delight during the day, 
and from which they run, morning and evening, 
to the open skirts, where some favorite food 
abounds. It is in their Avay to such feeding- 
grounds that they are so easily secured by un- 
scrupulous persons ; for, never taking flight un- 
less disturbed, they run and thread their way 
through these tangled brakes, and leave pas- 
sages which are easily distinguished by the prac- 
ticed eye of the poacher. During the winter 
the pheasant goes regularly to roost; but in 
the summer, and when moulting, they do not 
tree, but squat among the long grass, offering 
themselves in this way an easy prey to another 
class of enemies, as polecats, foxes, etc. 

The males, in general, associate among them- 
selves during the winter, and separate from the 
females. They come together again about the 
first of March, when the male assumes an al- 
tered appearance ; the scarlet of his cheeks, and 
around his eyes, acquires additional depth of 
color; he walks with a more measured step, 
with his wings let down, and witli his tail car- 
ried in a more erect position. Being polyga- 
mous, he now takes possession of a certain beat, 
from which he drives away every male intruder, 
and commences his crowing, attended with a 
peculiar clapping of the wings, which answers 
as the note of invitation to the other sex, as 
well as of defiance to his own. 

We quote the following from Mr. Nolan, a 
writer in the Poultry Chronicle : " The pheasant 
is not only beautiful to the eye, but most deli- 
cate when served to the table. Its flesh is con- 
sidered the greatest dainty. No matter with 
what care they have been bred or propagated, 



they disdain the protection of man ; and shelter 
in the thickest coverts and remotest forests. 
All others of the domestic fowl submit to the 
protection of man, but the pheasant never has, 
preferring the scanty produce of acorns and 
berries to the abundant supply of a farm-yard. 
The hen pheasant, in a wild state, hatches and 
brings up her brood with patience, vigilance, 
and courage ; but when kept tame she never 
sits well. A substitute must be found in the 
clean, smooth-legged Bantam, the larger fowl 
being too heavy for the chicks. Her time of 
laying is about the middle of April, and, if in an 
aviary, the eggs should be immediately removed, 
and placed in dry bran or chaff, until you wish 
to set them. They are about twenty-four days 
coming out. After the young ones appear, they 
are not to be fed for twenty-four hours, after 
which give them hard-boiled eggs, chopped fine, 
and mixed with oatmeal, ant-mould, cheese, 
curd, lettuce cut fine, with flour wetted witli 
milk, bread-crumbs, bread and milk, with very 
limited drink. Be particular to preserve them 
from cold and moisture. You have to confine 
the hen, so as to prevent her from eating their 
food; and you will have to provide them with 
maggots. 

" In the neighborhood of Paris, where they 
rear large quantities of fowls for the market, 
they prepare what they call a vermineer, by dig- 
ging a hole in a dry, sandy spot, in which they 
place a piece of flesh, which soon gets into 
maggots, with which they feed the young birds. 
My own vermineer is of much simpler and eco- 
nomic construction. I have an earthen pan, 
about two feet deep, and one foot in diameter, 
into which I put some bran ; on this I place a 
piece of liver or carrion. I cover it with a com- 
mon glass cap, and place it in the sun. The 
flesh soon gets fly-blown, and speedily creates 
quantities of maggots, and, with a long-handled 
spoon, I have thrown them to the young birds. 
They should not get more than one feed of 
these in the day. The more varied their food, 
and the more frequently renewed, the better. 
A little at a time, and fresh. The green leaves 
of barley are excellent. At three months old, 
feed them on barley with a little wheat, boiled 
carrots, or potatoes, mixed with bread-crumbs. 



298 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



Give a small portion of boiled rice during the 
moult. If they should get the roup, give them 
fresh curd every day; a little curd and ants' 
eggs should be given to them twice a day in 
addition to their other food. Keep their vessels 
clean ; and, if the disease still continues, give 
them every second day a small dose of garlic in 
a little fresh butter. They are subject to be 
vent-bound, which, if not attended to, will kill 
them. To remedy this take a pair of sharp 
scissors, cut close the down or feathers about 
the vent, and anoint it with sweet-oil, and be 
attentive that it be kept clean, otherwise you 
can not rear them ; but in handling them, be 
particularly cautious that you do it with the 
greatest delicacy, as the least rough treatment 
will kill them. If they have a scouring the 
curd will cure it." 

Although it is rather difficult to effect a cross 
between the pheasant and our domestic fowl, it 
has nevertheless, in several instances, been 
done; but beyond a first cross, the thing is 
generally regarded as impracticable. Poultry 
have been kept on the borders of a wood abound- 
ing with pheasants, and occasionally a few half- 
breed birds are procured. We will enumerate 
some of them. Sir William Jardine had a 
specimen of the cross in his possession, exhibit- 
ing all the mixed characters in perfection. M. 
Temminck also records a solitary instance of a 
mule between the female common pheasant and 
the male golden pheasant, which presented a 
curious but splendid mixture ; all his endeavors, 
however, to procure a second specimen were 
ineffectual. The common pheasant breeds also 
freely with the ring-necked bird, and the off- 
spring is productive ; which by some is regarded 
as a proof that these two birds are identical. 

" It is well known," says a writer in an En- 
glish journal, " that the male pheasant frequent- 
ly visits the hens in the poultry-yards adjoining 
. preserves (or it may be vice versa), and in my 
own limited experience I know instances in 
which very good varieties of layers have been 
obtained by this means. In the autumn of 
1846 I saw a large flock of poultry in a farm- 
yard close to a preserve of Lord Hatherton's, 
which was well stocked with pheasants, and the 
results of the cross between these birds and the 



domestic fowls were very obvious. The poultry 
had originally been a mixed variety, bearing no 
resemblance whatever to the pheasant breed. 
In the cross to which I refer, the male birds 
generally show the greatest resemblance to the 
pheasants, and in one or two instances that I 
have noticed, the plumage was strictly similar 
to that of the cock pheasant." 

We are informed, on the best authority, that 
many of the birds which compose the gallina- 
ceous order appear to be less difficult to be 
brought to unite with strange species, than those 
of any other. From the great majority of pheas- 
ants, mongrels may be thus produced. 

THE COCK OF THE PLAINS. 

This species, which is a native of the barren, 
arid plains along the River Columbia and the in- 
terior of North California, appears to have been 
first recorded by Lewis and Clarke, and has 
been described by Mr. Douglass, who found it 
among the Rocky Mountains. From the slen- 
der form of the quill feathers of the wings and 
those of the tail, the flight of this species is 
slow, unsteady, and accompanied by a whirring 
sound. " When startled," says Mr. Douglass, 
" the voice — l Cuck, chuck, cuck. r — is like that of 
the common pheasant. They pair in March and 
April. Small eminences on the banks of streams 
are the places usually selected for celebrating 
the weddings; the time generally about sun- 
rise. The wings of the male are lowered, buzz- 
ing on the ground; the tail spread like a fan, 
somewhat erect ; the bare, yellow oesophagus is 
inflated to a prodigious size — fully half as large 
as his body — in marked contrast with the scale- 
like feathers below it on the breast and the flex- 
ile silky feathers on the neck, which on these 
occasions stand erect. In this grotesque form 
he displays, in the presence of his intended 
mate, a variety of attitudes. His love-song is 
a confused, grating, but not offensively disagree- 
able tone — something that we can imitate, but 
have a difficulty in expressing — ' Hurr, hurr- 
hurr-lmrr-r-r-r-hl ending in a deep hollow tone, 
not unlike the sound produced by blowing into 
a large reed. The hen builds her nest on the 
ground, under the shade of pursia and artemi- 
sia, or near streams, among Phalaris arundi- 



WILD BIRDS SUSCEPTIBLE OF DOMESTICATION. 



2E9 







CALIFORNIA PAETEIDGE. 



naca, carefully constructed of dry grass and slen- 
der twigs. Eggs, from thirteen to seventeen, 
about the size of those of the common fowl, of 
a wood-brown color, with irregular chocolate 
blotches on the thick end. Period of incuba- 
tion, twenty-one to twenty-two days. The young 
leave the nest a few hours after they are hatch- 
ed. In the summer and autumn months these 
birds are seen in small troops, and in winter 
and spring in flocks of several hundreds." 

CALIFORNIA PARTRIDGE. 

This beautiful species is common in the low 
woods and plains of California, where it was 
discovered by the unfortunate LaPerouse, and, 
according to the editor of his voyage, was found 
in flocks of two or three hundred ; the birds 
were fat, and well-flavored. Several living 
specimens were procured by Captain Beechy, 
with a view of being brought or carried to En- 
gland, where it was hoped the species might be 
domesticated, or naturalized; but, unfortunate- 
ly, the plan was defeated by the death of the fe- 



males on the passage. The males were pre- 
sented to the Zoological Society, and one of 
them lived for a considerable time. 

Specimens of the California partridge or quail 
had, however, been previously carried to En- 
gland by Mr. A. Menzies, who accompanied 
Vancouver in his expedition round the world, 
and were described by Shaw and Latham. 

Several specimens of this beautiful bird were 
brought to New York a few years since by a 
citizen on his return from California, with a 
view of domesticating them. 

In manners these birds closely resemble those 
of the partridge or quail, but hold themselves 
more erect; the graceful crest on the head 
adding much to their appearance. The general 
plumage is a dusky slate color; the crest, which 
is bent forward, is black, as is also the throat, 
encircled by a belt of white. The feathers at 
the back of the neck are small and triangular, 
of a slaty hue, with a narrow black margin and 
white tip. The female has but little crest, and 
the general tone of the coloring is browner and 



300 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 




TUE GREAT BUSTARD. 



more obscure, 
nine inches. 



The figure is stont; length about 



THE GREAT BUSTARD. 

This bird, although formerly tolerably com- 
mon in England, is now scarcely ever seen 
there. It runs with great rapidity, and will 
never rise on the wing until forced, so that in- 
stances have been known of bustards being cap- 
tured by greyhounds. It is exceedingly wary, and 
can hardly be approached within gun-shot, ex- 
cept by adopting some disguise — as of a laborer, 
with a gun in his wheel-barrow, or by driving a 



cart or a carriage by the spot where it is feed- 
ing. 

The male bustard possesses a membraneous 
pouch on the fore-part of the neck, capable of 
holding six or seven pints of water. There is an 
opening to this pouch under the tongue, and its 
use is possibly, like that of the pelican, to carry 
water for the use of the young, but this is not 
ascertained. The length of the bird is rather 
more than three feet. Its nest is a loose heap 
of straw in the ground, and contains two pale- 
brown eggs, spotted with darker brown, rather 
larger than those of the tnrkey. 



POULTRY STATISTICS. 



301 



CHAPTER XIX. 



POULTEY STATISTICS. 



Vert few persons are aware of the enormous 
quantity of eggs consumed. It has grown to 
be a very important branch of business in this 
country as well as in Europe. 

The annual consumption of poultry and small 
game in the city of Paris usually amounts to 
more than 22,000,000 pounds. The quantity 
of eggs used annually in France is said to ex- 
ceed 7,250,000,000, of which enormous number 
Paris uses about 120,000,000. 

The importation of eggs from Ireland in 1837, 
to Liverpool and Bristol alone, amounted in 
value to .£250,000. The importation from 
Prance the same year was probably greater. 

" It appears," says M'Culloch, " from official 
statements, that the eggs imported from France 
into England amount to about 00,000,000 a 
year ; and supposing them to cost, on an average, 
fourpence per dozen, it follows that the people 
of Brighton (for it is to that place they are al- 
most all imported) pay £23,000 a year for eggs ; 
and suppose the freight, importer's and retail- 
er's profit, duty, etc., raise their price to the 
consumer to tenpence per dozen, their total cost 
would be £213,000." 

The number of eggs imported into England 
from various parts of the Continent, in 1839, 
was 83,745,723, and the gross amount of duty 
received for the same was £29,111. 

"When we look," says M'Queen, "at the im- 
mense number of eggs brought from Ireland 
(50 tons of eggs, and 10 tons of live and dead 
poultry, having been shipped from Dublin alone 
in one day), and 66,000,000 eggs imported 
from France to London alone ; and this im- 
mense number a trifle certainly to what are 
produced in this country [England], we shall 
cease to wonder at the large capital (£8,000,000) 



invested in poultry of all kinds. The quantity 
of eggs imported into Liverpool from Ireland, 
in 1832, was 4097 crates, value £81,940 ster- 
ling ; which, at sixpence per dozen, gives 
3,297,600 dozens of eggs, and the number 
39,331,200. In 1833 the import had increased 
to 7851 crates, or upward of 70,000,000. The 
number imported into Glasgow from Ireland in 
1835, by the custom-house entries, was 19,321 
crates, which, at nine eggs to the pound, gives 
the number 17,459,568." 

Every where in France, it is stated, poultry is 
abundant and cheap, and eggs form an import- 
ant article of diet. M. Legrand, a member 
of the French Statistical Society, says, "The 
consumption of eggs in Paris is calculated at 
115J eggs per head, or 101,052,400. The con- 
sumption in other parts of France may be reck- 
oned at double this rate, as in many parts of 
the country dishes composed of eggs and milk 
are the principal items in all the meals. The 
consumption of eggs for the whole empire, in- 
dudingthecapital, is estimated at7,231, 160,000; 
add to this number those exported, and those 
necessary for reproduction, and it will result 
that 7,3S0,925,000 eggs were laid in France 
during the year 1S35." 

The exportations from France in the same 
year were as follows : 

To England 70,190,120 



To Belgium 

To United States (!) 

To Switzerland 

To Spain 

To other parts of the world 



OlI.MIll 

49, GOG 
49,260 

G4.S00 
3oc;,:;o4 



It will be seen by the foregoing that the 
whole number of eggs exported from France in 
that year was 70,GS9,800. The total amount 



302 



THE AMEEICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



of which was 3,829,284 francs ($76, 800). Prance 
is essentially a fowl-keeping and egg-producing 
country. The farms, owing to the subdivision 
of landed-property among the sons of a propri- 
etor at his decease, are small, and poultry con- 
stitutes a profitable stock upon them, especially 
as they will feed but few cattle. Around every 
farm-house flocks of poultry are to be seen. 
They swarm every where, and the markets of 
every town are abundantly supplied. Much 
breed does not exist in any of them, but in some 
parts considerable attention is paid to their 
rearing. There is said to be a peculiar variety 
in great esteem in the peninsula of Caux. The 
fowls of this district are fattened in the environs 
of Barbezieux, La Fle'che, and especially Mons, 
for the tables of the luxurious. 

The following interesting statistical remarks 
are taken from a paper in the " English Penny 
Magazine" for March, 1837. After premising 
that in the year 1837 the number of eggs im- 
ported from France into England amounted to 
69,000,000, the writer says, "These eggs can 
not be obtained from much fewer than 575,000 
hens, each hen producing 120 eggs on an aver- 
age, all beyond this number being required for 
domestic consumption. Assuming the grounds 
of this calculation to be correct, the 55,000,000 
eggs, which a writer in a newspaper printed at 
Arras states to be the amount supplied to En- 
gland from the Pas de Calais, are the produc- 
tion of 458,333 fowls, each of which furnishes 
ten dozen eggs, imported at a duty of tenpence, 
being a tax to that amount on each fowl. Al- 
lowing twelve fowls to each family engaged in 
supplying the demand for eggs, the number of 
families thus interested will be 39,861, repre- 
senting a population of 198,000. In the Pas 
de Calais there can scarcely be a larger popula- 
tion than two families out of every five who are 
connected with the egg-trade; and if this were 
ascertained to be the real proportion, the popu- 
lation not directly engaged would be 457,000, 
which with the 198,000 above mentioned would 
comprise a total population of 665,000, which is 
the population of the department, the superfi- 
cies of which being 2624 square miles. Over 
this extent of country must those who are 
engaged in the egg-trade keep a vigilant eye, 



penetrating into the hamlet, and visiting the 
lone houses which are scattered in this part of 
Prance, perhaps more numerously than in any 
other departments. Some arrangements of a 
peculiar nature are obviously required to facili- 
tate the transactions of the wholesale dealer, 
who probably resides at the port whence the 
eggs are shipped. The services of a subordi- 
nate class of dealers are doubtless called into 
activity ; and as it would be a waste of time for 
each of these to visit every week, or at a stated 
period, every one of the 39,861 houses whence 
they draw the quantity required, other arrange- 
ments of a still more detailed character are 
necessary in order to bring the article within 
grasp." 

The British census returns for 1841 present 
us with an ad valorem estimate of the poultry 
(of all sorts) kept in Ireland, the pecuniary 
value of each fowl being reckoned at the small 
sum of sixpence. This census, however, is only 
an approximation to the truth ; for it is stated, 
on good authority, that the country people were 
not unnaturally suspicious of the intentions of 
the parties employed to ascertain the point in 
question, and apprehending that the inquiry 
was only the prelude to some new tax, they 
gave such statements as seemed most advan- 
tageous to their interests ; hence their returns 
were below the mark numerically, and conse- 
quently, also, in a pecuniary point of view. The 
returns were as follows : 

Leinster, 12 towns £56,243 

Connauglit, 5 towns . 35,216 

Munster, 6 towns 62,S30 

Ulster, 9 towns 47,SS3 

The total, according to this estimate, is 
£202,172. Hence the number of poultry re- 
turned amounted to 8,088,680, reckoning them 
at sixpence per head ; but, as stated above, this 
number is far below the mark. 

The value of eggs shipped from Dublin to 
Liverpool and London in 1848 was more than 
five millions of dollars. France in 1835 had 
73,000,000 dollars invested in poultry. En- 
gland in 1840 had 50,000,000 dollars invest- 
ed in poultry. Since that time the numbers, 
of course, have increased. 

From the custom-house returns of the year 



POULTRY STATISTICS. 



30f 



1S3S, it appears that eggs were imported into 
England (though loaded with heavy duties) from 
the Continent to the value of more than a mill- 
ion dollars. 

"In 1835 the value of eggs exported from 
Ireland to Great Britain was £68,6S7, and at 
the present time may exceed £100,000. [Mr. 
M'Culloch says the price paid by England to 
Ireland for eggs and poultry may be estimated 
,at from £200,000 to £300,000 "a year.] At 
fourpence per dozen the number of eggs which 
this sum purchases would be 72,000,000. From 
France and Belgium there were imported, in the 
year 1840, 96,000,000, on which the duty of Id. 
per dozen produced £34,000. In the last three 
years the importations of foreign eggs were : In 
1842, 89,548,747- in 1843, 70,415,931 ; in 1844, 
G 7,487,920." 

Richardson, in his little work on " Domestic 
Fowls," published in 1847, says, "I have had a 
statement furnished me by Mr. P. Howell, 
Secretary of the City of Dublin Steam-packet 
Company to the following effect : 'The number 
of boxes of eggs shipped by that Company's ves- 
sels for London, during the years 1844-45, was 
8874 ; about the same number was shipped by 
the British and Irish Company, making a total 
of 17148 boxes. Each contained 13,000 eggs; 
but occasionally large boxes are used, containing 
more than four times that number. This gives 
the result of 23,072,400 eggs as annually ship- 
ped for London. To Liverpool were shipped 
5135 boxes, containing 25,566,500 eggs, mak- 
ing a total of the shipments from Dublin alone, 
during the years 1844-45, to the two ports of 
London and Liverpool, of 48,639,900, the value 
of which, at the average rate of 5s. 0>d. per every 
124 eggs (the return made), gives a sum amount- 
ing to about £125,500 as the annual value of 
the eggs shipped from Dublin alone; and since 
this return the export of eggs has enormously 
increased. Assuming the export of Dublin to 
be equal to one-fourth of the exports of all Ire- 
land (a calculation reaching much above the 
mark), we have very close on £500,000, or half 
a million, as the value of this branch of com- 
merce to Ireland, showing also an increase of 
four-fold since 1835." The same writer adds 
in a note : "By the same returns I have ascer- 



tained that the export of eggs is now nearly 
doubled, bordering on a million sterling." 

A writer in the " Quarterly Review" gives 
some very useful information in regard to the 
rearing of poultry and eggs, but confines his ob- 
servations to London alone: "There can be no 
doubt that the trade is a very valuable one, and 
it is much to be regretted that our farmers (who, 
by keeping poultry, admit the necessity of such 
stock on a farm) should throw away so great a 
source of profit. The following figures will show 
that the trade is very considerable. They refer 
only to the quantities brought into two of the 
principal markets of London, and are as fol- 
lows : Eggs, 75,000,000; fowls, 2,000,000; 
turkeys, 100,000; ducks, 300,000; geese, 100,- 
000; pigeons, 400,000. 

"In addition to these quantities, the vast 
amount sent to poulterers and private houses 
must be considered. It is difficult to say what 
proportion of this comes from abroad, but the 
fact that 60,000,000 eggs are imported annual- 
ly from France, and that the Brighton Railway 
alone carries yearly about 2600 tons of eggs 
brought from Belgium and France, are fair in- 
dications as to the rest." 

The rearing and keeping of poultry has be- 
come a very important branch of rural economy. 
Until quite recently the subject, in this country, 
attracted little or no attention. Many at first 
viewed it as too insignificant to merit considera- 
tion. This is quite natural. Little things are 
frequently treated with contempt, although in 
the aggregate they assume magnitude surpass- 
ing credulity. This is so, literally, with poultry. 
Because a fair stock of fowls can be bought for 
two dollars or so, they are regarded as beneath 
the rank that entitles them even to kind treat- 
ment, more especially if viewed in connection 
with expected remuneration. But although the 
winter stock of hens on a common farm may be 
estimated at two dollars only, the fair valuation 
of these hens in the country gives them a com- 
mercial importance ranging with some of our 
best products. 

In the absence of general statistics we must 
take isolated ones, and from them draw general 
conclusions ; and it is believed that we shall be 
able to satisfy the reader that the culture of 



£04 



THE AMEKICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



poultry is of much more importance in this 
country than generally imagined ; and that, con- 
sequently, it should become one of the fkst ob- 
jects of attention with every family in the coun- 
try. 

The census of 1840 reveals the fact, and fixes 
the value of the poultry of the United States at 
that time to be about $13,000,000. This we do 
not regard as unreasonable, as it only amounts 
to about fifty cents for each person. And this 
was sixteen years ago. Still, it is a very import- 
ant item, and one which has been rapidly in- 
creasing ever since ; and yet the markets are not 
sufficiently supplied with good poultry, while 
there is a constant scarcity of eggs, except, per- 
haps, in the months of April 'and May. 

The whole amount of eggs yielded in a j r ear 
we will suppose to be 480,000,000 dozen, that is 
nineteen dozen for each individual in the coun- 
try to be used in a year, or a fraction more than 
four eggs a week for each person, or, in a family 
of six persons, an average allowance of two 
dozen a week. This is a moderate allowance, 
for in France the annual consumption of eggs 
is 8,000,000,000, being about twenty dozen to 
each person ; and in Paris alone, the annual con- 
sumption is 140,000,000. We have no means 
or method of ascertaining the quantity of eggs 
used in New York, Boston, and the other large 
cities of this country, only as it is well under- 
stood that the inhabitants are fond of good fare, 
and will have it when the means are at com- 
mand. In evidence of it, statistics show that in 
Boston the annual consumption, with a popula- 
tion less than 150,000, is to the amount of one 
million of dollars for poultry alone, and that in 
New York and its dependencies more than three 
times that amount is expended for the same arti- 
cle. And it is a fair calculation that nearly one 
million of eggs are consumed every month in 
the city of New York. One woman in Pulton 



market sold 175,000 eggs in ten weeks, supplying 
the Astor House each day with 1000 for four 
days in a week, and on Saturday 2500. 

The egg trade of Cincinnati, a few years since, 
was put down at 25,000,000. It was stated in 
one of the public journals, that in one day there 
were shipped 500 barrels, containing 47,000 doz- 
en of eggs. In May, 1842, seventy barrels, con- 
taining seventy dozen each, amounting in num- 
ber to 58,800, were sent to Boston. One dealer 
in the egg trade of Philadelphia sends to the 
New York market, daily, nearly one hundred 
barrels of eggs. It is estimated that the city 
of New York alone expends nearly $2,000,000 
per annum in the purchase of eggs. 

The value of eggs sold in and around Quincy 
market, in Boston, for 1848, was 1,125,735 doz- 
en, which, at 18 cents per dozen (the lowest price 
paid 11|- cents, and the highest 30 cents per doz- 
en, as proved by the average purchases of one of 
the largest dealer's books), makes the amount 
paid for eggs to be nearly 203,353 dollars. And 
from information already obtained from other egg 
merchants in the same city, the whole amount 
of sales will not fall much, if any, short of 
$1,000,000 for 1848. The average consump- 
tion of eggs at three of the hotels was more than 
two hundred each day for that year. And the 
value of eggs brought from the Penobscot and 
Kennebec rivers for that year, during the run- 
ning season of the steamboats plying between 
Boston and those two rivers, was more than 
$350,000. 

It is stated in a Providence paper, that one 
sloop has regularly, for twenty-five years, made 
twenty-five trips a year from Westport, Massa- 
chussetts, to that port, during which period she 
has carried to that market, on an average, 400 
dozen of eggs each trip, making altogether a 
total of 3,450,000, averaging twelve and a half 
cents per dozen, amounting to $35,500. 






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